Page 157 - The Creation Of The Universe

Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar) 155

ing oils. Hydrocarbons like ethylene
and propylene are the "bedrock" on
which the modern petrochemical in-
dustry has been erected.
Hydrocarbons like benzene, toluene,
and turpentine are familiar to any-
one who's worked with paints. The
naphthalene that protects our
clothes from moths is another hy-
drocarbon. With the addition of
chlorine in their composition, some
hydrocarbons become anesthetics;
The structure of methane:
with the addition of fluorine, we
Four hydrogen atoms share
have Freon, a gas that is widely used one electron each with a sin-
in refrigeration. gle carbon atom.
There is another important class
of compounds in which carbon, hy-
drogen, and oxygen form covalent bonds with one another. In this family
we find alcohols like ethanol and propanol, ketones, aldehydes, and fatty
acids among many, many other substances. Another group of compounds
composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are sugars, including glucose
and fructose.
The cellulose that makes up the skeleton of wood and the raw materi-
al for paper is a carbohydrate. So is vinegar. So is beeswax and formic acid.
Each one of the incredibly rich panoply of substances and materials that
occur naturally in our world is "nothing more" than a different arrangement
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen linked together by covalent bonds.
When carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen form such bonds, the re-
sult is a class of molecules that is the foundation and structure of life itself:
the amino acids that make up proteins. The nucleotides that make up DNA
are also molecules formed from carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
In short, the covalent bonds that the carbon atom is capable of entering
into are vital for the existence of life. Were hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and