Chapter 2
The Kinds of Ordinary Materials
Have not the small particles of bodies certain powers, virtues or
forces, by which they act at a distance . . . ?
—Isaac Newton
Summary Life systems have evolved to use a wide variety of substances, for both
structures and activities. Biological structures are built from molecules and mixtures
of molecules in a number of different states and phases. The activity of life relies
on protein systems acting as builders, renewers, dismantlers, catalysts, shepherds,
facilitators, inhibitors, nano pumps and motors. This chapter reviews the underlying
nature of atoms and molecules in materials important to life on Earth.
2.1 Nature of Matter
Common materials on Earth, and much of the ordinary matter in the universe, is
made from protons, electrons, and neutrons. Protons and electrons are stable (over
astronomical times), but free neutrons are not: A free neutron will transform into a
proton (p), an electron (e), and an antineutrino ( ¯
ν e ) with about half of any collection
of free neutrons transforming every 10.3 min. Such a transformation causing a loss
of a certain material is called a decay. In this case, the products of the decay
include energetic subatomic particles. Such a process is called a ‘radioactive decay’.
However, neutrons can be stabilized when combined with protons. A deuteron (D)
has one neutron and one proton bound together, and is stable. The neutron bound
within cannot decay because the system has insufficient energy to make a free
proton, electron, and neutrino. 1
Deuterons were created about 13.82 ± 0.12 billion years ago in the first 3 min of
the Universe’s life, and can now be found in deuterium, or ‘heavy hydrogen’, which
makes up about one atom in 6420 of the hydrogen in ocean water. ‘Heavy water’
1 The binding energy of the deuteron, 2.224 MeV, is greater than the mass energy of a neutron
minus that of hydrogen: (m n − m H )c 2 = 0.796 MeV.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. C. Parke, Biophysics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44146-3_2
11
The Kinds of Ordinary Materials
Have not the small particles of bodies certain powers, virtues or
forces, by which they act at a distance . . . ?
—Isaac Newton
Summary Life systems have evolved to use a wide variety of substances, for both
structures and activities. Biological structures are built from molecules and mixtures
of molecules in a number of different states and phases. The activity of life relies
on protein systems acting as builders, renewers, dismantlers, catalysts, shepherds,
facilitators, inhibitors, nano pumps and motors. This chapter reviews the underlying
nature of atoms and molecules in materials important to life on Earth.
2.1 Nature of Matter
Common materials on Earth, and much of the ordinary matter in the universe, is
made from protons, electrons, and neutrons. Protons and electrons are stable (over
astronomical times), but free neutrons are not: A free neutron will transform into a
proton (p), an electron (e), and an antineutrino ( ¯
ν e ) with about half of any collection
of free neutrons transforming every 10.3 min. Such a transformation causing a loss
of a certain material is called a decay. In this case, the products of the decay
include energetic subatomic particles. Such a process is called a ‘radioactive decay’.
However, neutrons can be stabilized when combined with protons. A deuteron (D)
has one neutron and one proton bound together, and is stable. The neutron bound
within cannot decay because the system has insufficient energy to make a free
proton, electron, and neutrino. 1
Deuterons were created about 13.82 ± 0.12 billion years ago in the first 3 min of
the Universe’s life, and can now be found in deuterium, or ‘heavy hydrogen’, which
makes up about one atom in 6420 of the hydrogen in ocean water. ‘Heavy water’
1 The binding energy of the deuteron, 2.224 MeV, is greater than the mass energy of a neutron
minus that of hydrogen: (m n − m H )c 2 = 0.796 MeV.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. C. Parke, Biophysics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44146-3_2
11