83 Chemical Elements in the Human Body – Functions – Compounds

If somebody told you that human is made up from chemicals you need to agree on that. Because that is true. Actually, everything that exists in this world is basically made up from chemicals. From rock to iron, including you, are made up of chemicals element. You can say that we are no different from ameba or amoeba if we are talking about what made us from the scratch. However, the composition of our chemical elements is quite different from the others living thing. We have nearly 80 chemical elements in the human body, that keep us alive and functioning properly.

Understanding your body, including what are you actually made of, can help you to get a better and healthy life. You will understand why too much salt or too much can kill you. You can also understand why having less potassium or other electrolytes is bad because it can damage your nervous system. Here is the list of the chemical elements in the human body.

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1. Oxygen

Oxygen is one of the most abundant chemicals elements in the human body. Almost 65% of our body is made up of oxygen. Working together with hydrogen, oxygen forms water, which is, the most important and primary solvent in our body. Water is important to regulate temperature and also osmotic pressure.

Oxygen is a chemical element with atomic number 8. Its symbol is O. This gas form a dioxygen (O2), an important gas for our respiratory system. Other than that, oxygen also forms ozone (O3), a protective layer of our Earth that protect us from meteor or UV light.

2. Carbon

Carbon is the second most abundant element in our body. Almost 18% of our body is made up of carbon. These chemical elements are one of the key elements in organic chemistry. Because it has 4 bonding sites for other atoms, carbon can interact and bond with most of the elements in our periodic table. Carbon plays a key role in our body. Our body made up carbohydrates, fats, nucleic acids, or proteins, with carbon chain. While breaking the bond of carbon chain is one of the ways to get energy.

In our periodic table, carbon is a chemical element that has a C symbol. It has 6 protons, which gets symbolized with its atomic number 6. These nonmetallic and tetravalent chemical elements have three isotopes that occur naturally in the wild. 12C, 13C, and 14C. These chemical elements can form diamond, graphite, or amorphous carbon altogether by chaining themselves with each other.

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3. Hydrogen

Hydrogen made up 10% of our body. This chemical element, along with oxygen it forms water. This number one element with an ‘H’ symbol in our periodic table is found in all organic molecules. It is the lightest element on our periodic table, with only a weight of 1.008.

In our universe, hydrogen is much more abundant compared to the hydrogen inside our body. Hydrogen constitutes almost 75% of all baryonic mass in our universe. It has the isotope, !H, which has no neutrons but has one proton. The others are 2H and 3H. Hydrogen has a low melting point, -259.16 degree Celsius, and -252.879 degree Celsius boiling point. It was discovered by Henry Cavendish but was named by Antoine Lavoisier.

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4. Nitrogen

Nitrogen made up 3 % of our body. It made up our genetic code, and also made up some proteins. This chemical element symbol is N, with atomic number 7. Firstly discovered at 1772, by Rutherford, simultaneously with Carl Wilhelm Scheele and Hendry Cavendish, it is now one of the most important chemical elements in our modern life.

Nitrogen is a colorless glass, which can take other appearance, as a liquid or a solid too. It has low melting and boiling point, about -210 degree Celsius and -195.795 degree Celsius. In our atmosphere, nitrogen made up almost 78% in the form of dinitrogen (N2). It has three isotopes, which is 17N, 14N, and 15N. A lot of important compounds in our industry, such as nitric acid, cyanides, and others, contain nitrogen.

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5. Calcium

Calcium made up at least 1.5% of our body. Most of the calcium can be found in our bones as the material for our bone’s structure. However, calcium also plays a key role in protein regulation and muscle concentration. A lack of calcium or excess of calcium in our body can lead to some health problems, such as osteoporosis. Another important role that calcium has is in the biochemistry of organism and the cell, and also in the physiology. Calcium also plays a vital role as a messenger, in cell communication, fertilization, and others.

In our periodic table, Calcium is symbolized with ‘Ca’. Its atomic number is 20. This alkaline appearance can vary, such as dull gray, silver, or a pale yellow tint. It has a relatively high melting and boiling point, which is 842 degree Celsius and 1484 degree Celsius.

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6. Phosphorus

Phosphorus is a chemical element that made up 1% of our body. We can found phosphorus in our bone, alongside with calcium to form bone structure, and also in the ATP molecule as one of the main energy carriers in cells. This highly reactive element is never found except as a compound on our Earth. However, phosphorus is an essential element that is also essential in our life. It forms DNA, RNA, and ATP and phospholipids.

Phosphorus is a chemical element with a ‘P’ symbol, and atomic number 15. It can be colorless, waxy white, scarlet, violet, or black solid. Phosphorus has three isotopes, which is 31P, 32P, and 33P. This chemical element was discovered by Hennig Brand and then officially recognized as an element by Lavoisier.

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7. Potassium

This alkali metals consisted at least 0.35% of our human body. This chemical element has a symbol K and atomic number 19. Its main function is as an electrolyte to transmit nerve impulses, and also plays a vital role in our heartbeat regulation. This can happen because of Potassium, like other alkali metals, only has one valence electron in the outer shell which is easily removed to create an ion with a positive charge. You can also read: Potassium Uses and Properties

8. Magnesium

Magnesium is a chemical element with Mg symbol. This mineral is vital to our body. It can help our blood pressure normal, strengthen our bones, and also keep our heart rhythm steady. It involves in more than 300 metabolic reactions. Along with potassium and phosphorus, Magnesium is used to build the structure of our bones and muscles. In addition to that, it is also an important cofactor in enzymatic reactions, playing a vital role that no other elements can take it.

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9. Sodium

Sodium also called as Natrium, is the chemical element with the Na symbol. It exists at least 0.15% of our body. With phosphorus and potassium, sodium plays a vital role as an electrolyte. Our body used it in nerve signaling. In addition to that, sodium helps us to regulate the amount of water inside our body. This silvery white metallic solid is a highly reactive metal. Sodium is one of the chemicals element that forms a salt, together with chlorine.

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10. Chlorine

Chlorine, a chemical element with a symbol Cl and atomic number 17 that made up at least 0.15% is an important anion that is used to maintain fluid balance in our body, alongside with sodium and others. This pale yellow green gas is the second lightest element in the halogen groups, a very reactive element and also a very strong oxidizing agent. It is the chemical element which has the highest element electron affinity.

In addition to that, it has a high electronegativity, only falling behind oxygen and fluorine. Together with sodium, this chemical element can form a salt that we used in our everyday life.

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Those are some of the chemical elements in the human body. But don’t be surprised because we still have other ‘ingredients’. Other chemicals found in our body, other than those 10 chemical elements, are:

Those are the chemical elements that made up our body. Some of those elements are more abundant than the others, but their vital roles are equally the same.

However, if the composition of those elements in our body is changed, some harmful effects might happen such as kidney failure if we have too much salt in our body (which is made from sodium and so on). So, it is better if we keep those chemicals balanced to get a healthy life. Be healthy and be safe!

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