Many elements make up the human body, but only three occur in abundance. These elements, oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen, combine to form the constituents of some of the most essential processes in the human body, such as cellular respiration. The remaining elements are also important, assisting our bodies in performing other vital processes.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
The most abundant elements in the human body are oxygen, carbon and hydrogen.
Oxygen
Oxygen is the most abundant element in the human body. It makes up 65 percent of the total weight of a person. For a person with a weight of 155, about 94 pounds of her total weight would be made of the element oxygen. This is due mainly to the body's water content. Water makes up the majority of the human body, and the two elements that make up water are oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen is also present in both our inhalations and exhalations. When breath in air from the surrounding atmosphere, some of it is oxygen. When we exhale, we breathe out the molecule carbon dioxide, which is made of the elements carbon and oxygen.
Carbon
Carbon is the second most abundant element in the human body, and makes up about 18 percent of your total weight. For a person weighing 170, 35 pounds of that weight is from the element carbon. Carbon forms the backbone of DNA, which present in most of the cells present in the human body. Carbon is also present in the sugar molecules your body uses for energy. We consume carbon from the food we eat, and release it back into the environment when we exhale.
Hydrogen
Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, and is also the smallest element. It makes up about 9 percent of the total weight of the human body. A person who weighs 170 pounds gets about 15 pounds of that weight from hydrogen. Two hydrogen atoms are present in every water molecule. Hydrogen is found in many other biological molecules in the human body. The present of hydrogen atoms on a fatty acid molecule determines if the fat is saturated or not.
Other Abundant Elements
Beyond these three elements, the next three elements that occur in greatest abundance in the human body are nitrogen, calcium and phosphorous. Together, these elements make up about six percent of the total weight of the human body. Nitrogen is found in the proteins, while calcium and phosphorous have their greatest concentrations in your bones and teeth. Phosphorous is also present in the DNA chain and is an essential component to the membranes enclosing your cells.
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References
- The Free Information Society: Elements in the Human Body
About the Author
Victoria Martin has been a writer for more than 14 years. Her work has appeared in Jacksonville's "The Dialer World Magazine," San Francisco's "In Structure Magazine" and Northern California's weekly "The Word: Arts and Culture." Martin received her Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies from Humboldt State University.
Looking up at the night sky this Fourth of July, you might wonder what gives fireworks their vivid colors. The bright hues result from chemical elements that are also essential for life. Chemists and other researchers have been uncovering their roles in a range of important biological processes.
By mass, about 96 percent of our bodies are made of four key elements: oxygen (65 percent), carbon (18.5 percent), hydrogen (9.5 percent) and nitrogen (3.3 percent). These elements do not give color to fireworks, but they are found in our body’s most abundant and important molecules, including water, proteins and DNA.
A dozen or so other elements—mostly metals—make up the remaining 4 percent. Present in minuscule amounts, these elements are involved in everything from transporting oxygen and releasing hormones to regulating blood pressure and maintaining bone strength. They also add a burst of color when put in to a fireworks recipe. Here are several examples.
Calcium is the most plentiful mineral in the human body and is needed to make orange fireworks. It’s crucial for a range of bodily functions including bone and teeth maintenance, muscle contraction, hormone secretion, blood clotting and heartbeat regulation.
Potassium, which helps create purple fireworks, also plays a role in managing heart rhythm. In addition, it balances water and mineral content in the body, helps to build muscle, and controls blood pressure.
Copper, found in bright blue fireworks, is the sidekick that some proteins need to do their jobs. For example, the protein that makes the body’s energy-carrying ATP molecules requires copper to function. Copper is also necessary to form collagen, the most abundant protein in humans and the main component of connective tissue.
Iron, used to make gold fireworks, is vital to immune function, energy production and oxygen transport in the body. Hemoglobin, the protein that gives blood its red color, needs iron to carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
Lithium helps produce red fireworks and is thought to affect the release of the chemical messenger serotonin. Lithium has been used for decades to treat mood disorders.
See an infographic on How Elements in Fireworks Make the Human Body Work. For details about other elements’ roles in the body, see Metals in Health and Disease.