why is carbon dioxide non-organic
The boundary between organic and inorganic compounds are somewhat...arbitrary. Historically, a compound that can be produced only by a life-form is considered organic, and technically all things organic contain carbon. However, all compounds carbon are not neccesarily organic, in the same way all lizards are reptiles but not vice versa.
Did some more research:
The name organic goes back to the 19th century when it was belived that they could only be synthesised by an organism. This was disproved when Friedrich Wohler syntheized urea, traditionally considered organic. Our concept of inorganic goes to the compounds that were considered thus from before Wohler.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered non-organic because it does not contain carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds, which are characteristic of organic compounds. In organic chemistry, the term "organic" refers to compounds that contain carbon atoms bound to hydrogen atoms.
To determine whether a compound is organic or non-organic, you can follow these steps:
1. Identify if the compound contains carbon (C) atoms. Carbon is the foundation of organic chemistry, so a compound must contain carbon to be considered organic.
2. Check if the carbon atoms in the compound form covalent bonds with hydrogen (H) atoms. The presence of carbon-hydrogen (C-H) bonds is a defining feature of organic compounds.
If a compound fulfills both of these criteria, it is classified as organic. However, if a compound contains carbon but lacks carbon-hydrogen bonds, like carbon dioxide (CO2), it is classified as non-organic.
In the case of carbon dioxide, it consists of one carbon atom bound to two oxygen (O) atoms, forming a linear molecule: O=C=O. Since it lacks carbon-hydrogen bonds, carbon dioxide is classified as a non-organic compound.