Question

Which statement best illustrates why carbon is so important to living things?

a. Carbon occurs as a solid, a liquid, and a gas.
b. Carbon is found in both the living and nonliving worlds.
c. Carbon is stored in large quantities in fossil fuels.
d. Carbon-based macromolecules are found in all life forms.

Answer 1

Answer is: d. Carbon-based macromolecules are found in all life forms.

Carbon (symbol: C) is the main element in organic compounds, found in living things.

There are approximately 10 million carbon-based compounds in living things, for example proteins (enzymes, antibodies), carbohydrates (sugars), lipids (fats, oils) and nucleic acids (deoxyribonucleic acid DNA, ribonucleic acid RNA).

The reason for so many carbon-based compounds is carbon characteristic to form bonds (single, double, triple) with many different elements.

Answer 2

The statement that best illustrates why carbon is so important to living things is that carbon based macromolecules are found in all life forms. This will make the correct answer D.