Science & Nature · 3
What is the second most abundant element in the human body by mass?
Answer
Carbon
Carbon comprises approximately 18% of human body mass by weight, making it the second most abundant element after oxygen (65%). Carbon's versatility in forming four covalent bonds enables the structural and functional diversity of organic molecules: proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids. Every carbon atom in your body was synthesized in dying stars billions of years ago, making you literally made of stardust. Carbon-based chemistry is the foundation of all known life, though some scientists theorize silicon-based life could exist under extreme conditions.
💡 Did you know?
Carbon forms the backbone of every protein, carbohydrate, lipid, and nucleotide—making it essential to all known life.
Other options people guess
- Hydrogen
- Nitrogen
- Calcium
Topics
- chemistry
- human-body
- elements
Know your science & nature trivia?
Play a free Science & Nature quiz and see how many you get right — no signup needed to start.
More Science & Nature facts
Science & Nature
Which element, secretly synthesized in 1944 during the Manhattan Project, was named after a continent rather than a U.S. state or a person?
Americium was synthesized in 1944 during the Manhattan Project, yet the U.S. government didn't announce its discovery until 1945, after the war.
Science & Nature
Which chemical element honors Johan Gadolin, a Finnish chemist who studied the mineral it was later named for but never isolated the element himself?
Gadolinium is named after Johan Gadolin, a Finnish chemist who never actually discovered it—he identified the mineral it came from.
Science & Nature
Which chemical element was named to honor both Marie and Pierre Curie together, rather than a place?
Curium honors both Marie and Pierre Curie, but Marie's own element, polonium, was named after her birthplace Poland—not her.
Science & Nature
What is the name of the phenomenon where organisms become more adapted to their environment over generations?
Bacteria develop antibiotic resistance in just years through adaptive evolution, a critical public health concern.
Science & Nature
What is the name of the phenomenon where a massive star collapses and creates an infinitely dense point in space?
The closest black hole to Earth is likely Sagittarius A*, about 26,000 light-years away at the center of our galaxy.
Science & Nature
What is the speed of light in vacuum, approximately?
Light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth, meaning we always see the Sun as it was 8+ minutes ago.