Came across this today doing some miscellaneous
reading and it completely surprised me. I always thought I had a basic
knowledge of overall science (enough, say, to win 4 out of the 5 boxes in a
column on Jeopardy!), but I had absolutely
no idea that
C738H1166FeN203O208S2
the chemical makeup of a molecule of Hemoglobin,
consists of 2,318 atoms!
That’s right. There are 2,318 atoms of six different
types in a single molecule of hemoglobin. Hydrogen is the most, followed by
Carbon, then Oxygen and Nitrogen, just two atoms of Sulfur, and, finally, a
sole single atom of Iron. (The chemical symbol for Iron is “Fe”, from the Latin
word ferrum.)
Yet without that one atom of Iron, it would be
impossible for hemoglobin to transport oxygen to your cells. Life would not be
possible. You would die.
Amazing, isn’t it?
I shoulda been a scientist. I love stuff like this.
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