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Abstract:
Carbon is a very important component of living things because it is an essential part of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. The air contains about 0.03% carbon dioxide. When plants photosynthesis, carbon atoms from carbon dioxide become part of glucose or starch molecules in plant. Some of the glucose will be broken down by the plants in respiration. The carbon in the glucose becomes part of a carbon dioxide molecule again, and is released back into the air. There are also carbon in the plants the will be eaten by animals. These animals respire; releasing some of it back into the air as carbon dioxide. When these plants or animals die, decomposer feeds on them. The carbon becomes part of the decomposers’ bodies. When they respire, they release carbon dioxide into the air again. A great deal of carbon dioxide is also released into the atmosphere from combustion.










Introduction:
Carbon is unquestionably one of the most important elements on Earth. It is the principal building block for the organic compounds that make up life. Carbon's electron structure gives it a plus 4 charge, which means that it can readily form bonds with itself, leading to a great diversity in the chemical compounds that can be formed around carbon; hence the diversity and complexity of life. Carbon occurs in many other forms and places on Earth; it is a major constituent of limestone, occurring as calcium carbonate; it dissolves in ocean water and fresh water; and it is present in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, the second most important greenhouse gas.
The flow of carbon throughout the biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and geosphere is one of the most complexed, interesting, and important of the global cycles. More than any other global cycle, the carbon cycle challenges us to draw together information from biology, chemistry, oceanography, and geology in order to...