inorganic

Examples of inorganic in the following topics:

• Soil Composition

  • Soil is a mix of varying amounts of inorganic matter, organic matter, water, and air.
  • Plants obtain inorganic elements from the soil, which serves as a natural medium for land plants.
  • inorganic mineral matter, about 40 to 45 percent of the soil volume
  • The inorganic material of soil is composed of rock, slowly broken down into smaller particles that vary in size.
  • The four major components of soil are shown: inorganic minerals, organic matter, water, and air.

• The Chemical Composition of Plants

  • Plants are composed of water, carbon-containing organics, and non-carbon-containing inorganic substances such as potassium and nitrogen.
  • Plant nutrients may be composed of either organic or inorganic compounds.
  • An inorganic compound does not contain carbon and is not part of, or produced by, a living organism.
  • Inorganic substances (which form the majority of the soil substance) are commonly called minerals: those required by plants include nitrogen (N) and potassium (K), for structure and regulation.

• Inorganic Nutrients and Other Factors

  • Inorganic nutrients, soil structure, and aquatic oxygen availability are further abiotic factors that affect species distribution in an ecosystem.
  • Inorganic nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are important in the distribution and the abundance of living things.
  • Plants obtain these inorganic nutrients from the soil when water moves into the plant through the roots.
  • Animals obtain inorganic nutrients from the food they consume.

• Physical Properties of Soil

  • The A horizon consists of a mixture of organic material with inorganic products of weathering; it is the beginning of true mineral soil.
  • The C horizon, or soil base, includes the parent material, plus the organic and inorganic material that is broken down to form soil.

• Energy and Nutrient Requirements for Prokaryotes

  • Most of the nitrogen available in nature is either atmospheric nitrogen (N2) or another inorganic form.
  • Those that can also use inorganic compounds as energy sources are called chemolithotrophs.
  • Recall that organisms that are able to fix inorganic carbon are called autotrophs.
  • Chemolithoautotrophs obtain their energy from inorganic compounds, while building their complex molecules from carbon dioxide.

• Strategies for Acquiring Energy

  • Photosynthetic and chemosynthetic organisms are grouped into a category known as autotrophs: organisms capable of synthesizing their own food (more specifically, capable of using inorganic carbon as a carbon source).
  • Photosynthetic autotrophs (photoautotrophs) use sunlight as an energy source, whereas chemosynthetic autotrophs (chemoautotrophs) use inorganic molecules as an energy source.

• Biogeochemical Cycles

  • Energy flows directionally through ecosystems, entering as sunlight (or inorganic molecules for chemoautotrophs) and leaving as heat during the many transfers between trophic levels.
  • Because geology and chemistry have major roles in the study of this process, the recycling of inorganic matter between living organisms and their environment is called a biogeochemical cycle.

• The Purpose and Process of Photosynthesis

  • A third very interesting group of bacteria synthesize sugars, not by using sunlight's energy, but by extracting energy from inorganic chemical compounds; hence, they are referred to as chemoautotrophs.
  • In a (d) deep sea vent, chemoautotrophs, such as these (e) thermophilic bacteria, capture energy from inorganic compounds to produce organic compounds.

• ATP and Muscle Contraction

  • The ATP is hydrolyzed into ADP and inorganic phosphate (Pi) by the enzyme ATPase.

• Protists as Primary Producers, Food Sources, and Symbionts

  • For instance, photosynthetic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae use sunlight to fix inorganic carbon.