Laboratory Activity 1
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ORGANIC AND INORGANIC COMPOUNDS

Compounds that consist of carbon atoms and their molecules are known as organic compounds. This is the reason why Organic Chemistry is basically defined as the study of compounds of carbon. The electronic structure of the carbon atom shows that it has four valence electrons or electrons that are capable of forming chemical bonds. An atom, to be stable, must have four pairs of valence electrons or a total of eight electrons at its outermost energy level. There are two ways by which atoms can complete this configuration in the outermost energy level: 1. An atom may share electrons with other atoms so that with the shared electrons it acquires a complete outermost shell. The chemical bond formed is called a covalent bond. 2. An atom may lose or gain enough electrons to acquire stability of configuration. In the process, one atom becomes positively charged and the other negatively charged. These charged atoms are called ions. Therefore the chemical bond formed is known as ionic bond, a very strong chemical bond. Most organic compounds are covalent compounds. They are weaker or they easily yield to chemical reactions, e.g. combustion, and substitution. They have higher melting points compared with most inorganic compounds. They decompose and produce charcoal at moderate temperatures. Due to the nature of their chemical bonds, few ionize in water, therefore most organic compounds are poor electrolytes and some are even non-electrolytes. Furthermore, organic compounds have lower boiling points compared with their inorganic counterparts having the same molecular weight. Inorganic compounds react immediately with another inorganic compound while organic compounds do not. Catalysts are required to effect an immediate reaction. In terms of number of atoms per molecule