K9-47G Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 This will probably sound extremely ridiculous, but I'm wondering what elements (what types of atoms) people are composed of. I know that we consist of protein (amino acids) but when you break things down past the cellular level to the atomic level, what are we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raivo Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Mostly carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9-47G Posted July 10, 2005 Author Share Posted July 10, 2005 Thank you very much. I don't believe I was thinking clearly when I posted this. I forgot all about organic chemistry and carbon atoms being the building blocks of life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 the only metal i can think of off the top of my head(besides H) that would be found in the human body is Fe. then again, i was never good at Bio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Off the top of my head, these are the more common elements I could think of: Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Nitrogen Sulfur Sodium Potassium Chlorine Iron Cobalt Iodine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latentheat Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and iron mainly. We need trace amounts of many elements in our diet though. Cobalt is found in vitamin b12. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skye Posted July 10, 2005 Share Posted July 10, 2005 Main ones: C, H, N, O, P, S, Cl, Na, Mg, K, Ca Trace elements: V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, W, B, Si, Se, F, I Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane_alien Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 through what we eat we probably have a little bit of all thenatural elements in our bodies but in most cases it would be a miniscule amount Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ophiolite Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Mass of each element in a 70-kg person CHON makes up 97% of the mass oxygen 43 kg 61% carbon 16 kg 23% hydrogen 7 kg 10% nitrogen 1.8 kg 3% Seven elements make up most of the rest: calcium 1.0 kg 1% phosphorus 780 g 1% potassium1 40 g 0.2% sulfur1 40 g 0.2% sodium 100 g 0.1% chlorine 95 g 0.1% magnesium 19 g 0.03% iron 4.2 g 0.01% The following forty seven elements constitute less than 0.01% each fluorine 2.6 g zinc 2.3 g silicon 1.0 g rubidium 0.68 g strontium 0.32 g bromine 0.26 g lead 0.12 g copper 72 mg aluminum 60 mg cadmium 50 mg cerium 40 mg barium 22 mg iodine 20 mg tin 20 mg titanium 20 mg boron 18 mg nickel 15 mg selenium 15 mg chromium 14 mg manganese 12 mg arsenic 7 mg lithium 7 mg cesium 6 mg mercury 6 mg germanium 5 mg molybdenum 5 mg cobalt 3 mg antimony 2 mg silver 2 mg niobium 1.5 mg zirconium 1 mg anthanium 0.8 mg gallium 0.7 mg tellurium 0.7 mg yttrium 0.6 mg bismuth 0.5 mg thallium 0.5 mg indium 0.4 mg gold 0.2 mg scandium 0.2 mg tantalum 0.2 mg vanadium 0.11 mg thorium 0.1 mg uranium 0.1 mg samarium 50 µg beryllium 36 µg tungsten 20 µg Source: http://web2.iadfw.net/uthman/elements_of_body.html [This, in turn, was based on Emsley, John, The Elements, 3rd ed., Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
insane_alien Posted July 11, 2005 Share Posted July 11, 2005 Thats quite a comprehensive list. never seen one in that much detail before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akcapr Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 nice list- never knew i had gold in me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxhead Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 protons and electrons and if i believe quantum theory we are nothing more than waves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaKiri Posted July 14, 2005 Share Posted July 14, 2005 protons and electrons and if i believe quantum theory we are nothing more than waves. Last time I checked, protons and electrons aren't atoms. Furthermore, you also missed out neutrons, which are rather vital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeonBlack Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 nice list- never knew i had gold in me Yes! I'm RICH!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmalluck Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 So the question is.... If I were going to melt people down for their base elements, which element would make me the most money per person? Hmm, i could see a work of art coming from this list.... Take the proper amounts of each element, lump them together, and call it a person. It would be a pretty neat visual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K9-47G Posted July 17, 2005 Author Share Posted July 17, 2005 That's quite a comprehensive list Ophiolite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rakuenso Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 we can get 100 grams of uranium if we killed a million people ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moopy Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 so wait..looking at the list you can make very small nuclear bombs out of a person..right? (very small bombs) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ydoaPs Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 we can get 100 grams of uranium if we killed a million people ! the real reason for the holocaust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tetrahedrite Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 anthanium 0.8 mggallium 0.7 mg tellurium 0.7 mg yttrium 0.6 mg bismuth 0.5 mg thallium 0.5 mg indium 0.4 mg gold 0.2 mg scandium 0.2 mg tantalum 0.2 mg vanadium 0.11 mg thorium 0.1 mg uranium 0.1 mg samarium 50 µg beryllium 36 µg tungsten 20 µg Source: http://web2.iadfw.net/uthman/elements_of_body.html [This' date= in turn, was based on Emsley, John, The Elements, 3rd ed., Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998] Did I miss something????...... I'm doing a PhD in chemistry and I've never heard of the element anthanium, or is it a different name for another common element? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWalker Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 I think silicone?? yeah, well I know some females show traces of it. EDIT: I was joking, please don't eat silicone while chanting "I am what I eat" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdurg Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 so wait..looking at the list you can make very small nuclear bombs out of a person..right? (very small bombs) Nope. You need about 20 kg or so of highly enriched Uranium (I.E. 95+% U-235) in order to have a nuclear bomb. No way in hell you could accomplish that with the miniscule amounts of uranium contained within living creatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 you`de have to melt down several Live8 Music concerts to get even a fraction of that. it`s just not worth the effort as for the parts of an atom being present, the only ones I`m aware of that exist will be Electrons, they often wonder freely within our systems causing damage (Free Radicals) often the Oxygen atom is responsible for these, hence taking Anti-Oxidants such as Vit A, E and C and the mineral Sellenium, is used to combat these by absorbtion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2SO4 Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 i heard the average person has enough zinc in his/her body to make a small ( 1 cudic mm) block. I dont know if this is the free zinc, or in the form of compounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YT2095 Posted July 19, 2005 Share Posted July 19, 2005 it`ll be in compounds, and the Male has more zinc than female also. I think you`ll find it`ll be a little bit more than a cubic mm too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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