The key difference between organic and inorganic substances is that all organic substances contain carbon as an essential component whereas inorganic substances may or may not contain carbon.
Most of the times, organic substances contain carbon, hydrogen and sometimes oxygen, along with C-H bonds. But most of the inorganic compounds do not contain carbon except some substances such as carbonates and cyanides which are categorized as inorganic due to historical reasons (earlier scientists named these compounds as inorganic). Therefore, the main difference between organic and inorganic substances lies upon the chemical composition of the substance.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What are Organic Substances
3. What are Inorganic Substances
4. Side by Side Comparison – Organic vs Inorganic Substances in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What are Organic Substances?
Organic substances are the molecules containing carbon atoms as an essential component. Most of the times, these molecules contain hydrogen atoms and C-H covalent bonds. Typically, all the living things contain organic substances. Due to the ability of carbon to form chains via binding with other carbon atoms, there are millions of organic compounds in the world. However, some compounds contain carbon as a component but we do not categorize them as organic compounds because of historical reasons (at early times, people considered substances such as carbonates and cyanides as inorganic because these are not substances that are only living organisms possess).
Figure 01: A diagram for an Organic Substance containing Carbon atoms (black) Hydrogen atoms (white), Oxygen atoms (red) and nitrogen (blue)
We can classify organic substances in different ways such as natural compounds and synthetic compounds mainly. Sometimes, we divide them depending on the structure, properties, size, etc. as well. The major tools that we can use for the structure determination of organic substances are a proton and carbon-13 NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, etc. ?
What are Inorganic Substances
Inorganic substances are molecules that contain chemical elements other than carbon. But, there are some compounds that contain carbon but are inorganic. These are named as inorganic substances due to historical reasons as mentioned above. These compounds typically lack C-H bonds. Also, most of the Erath’s crust is made up of inorganic substances.
Figure 02: An Inorganic Compound containing Sulfur
In brief, any compound that is not an organic compound is an inorganic compound. Examples of these compounds include ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, all metals and most other chemical elements.
What is the Difference Between Organic and Inorganic Substances?
Organic substances are the molecules containing carbon atoms as an essential component while Inorganic substances are the molecules that contain chemical elements other than carbon. Hence, this is the key difference between organic and inorganic substances. However, there are some compounds that contain carbon but are inorganic. Furthermore, another difference between organic and inorganic substances is that the organic substances occur mainly in living organisms while inorganic substances occur mainly on Earth’s crust.
Looking at some examples, organic substances include carbohydrates, fat, nucleic acids, organic polymers, etc. On the other hand, examples of inorganic substances include ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, all metals and most other chemical elements. More details on the difference between organic and inorganic substances are given in the below infographic.
Summary – Organic vs Inorganic Substances
We can categorize chemical compounds into two types of organic and inorganic substances. And, the key difference between organic and inorganic substances is that all organic substances contain carbon as an essential component whereas inorganic substances may or may not contain carbon.