Polymers
The key thing to realize about organic chemistry is that a lot of the products we use in our lives come from plants and animals. Remember, something doesn't have to be currently alive to be an application of organic chemistry. For example, polymers are molecules with long chains. There are lots of polymers in our lives, from plastics to nylon to polycarbonate and acrylic. The structure of these man-made materials originally came from the natural world. Polymers are considered to be organic molecules. Rubber is probably the most famous natural polymer, which comes from the rubber trees. But even fully man-made plastics usually contain hydrocarbon molecules that originally came from plants and animals.
Petrochemicals
Then there is perhaps the most important things to human and the modern economy: petrochemicals. Oil and its products are really important in modern society. Oil gives us fuel for our cars, chemicals to make plastics, detergents, medicines, and dyes. So how is crude oil an example of organic chemistry?
Oil is created when dead animals and plants fall to the bottom of the sea, where they get covered with layers of sediment over millions of years. There, deep under the sea floor, oil is created through immense pressure and temperature. So the reason that these are organic molecules is that they literally come from dead plants and animals.
Cleaning Products
Maybe you're not a fan of oil because you don't like the damage it causes to the environment. Here's a question for you: Do you regularly wash your hands? Basic cleaning products like soaps and detergents are more important to society than you think. Cleanliness has improved the health of human beings over the last century. Soap and detergents are both made from organic molecules. Soap is made from animal fats, and detergents contain products that come from oil.
Medicine
Perhaps the most important application of organic chemistry is medicine. The advancements made in medicine have led human life expectancy to rise at a staggering rate. Since the human body is organic, a lot of the ways we make an ailing body healthy again must also be organic. Everything from antibiotics and painkillers to anesthetics and cancer treatments are made from organic molecules. Organic chemists are vital in the fight against all disease.
Lesson Summary
Organic chemistry looks at molecules found inside living organisms. Not everyone enjoys studying organic chemistry, but it's super important to human society. It has numerous applications in our lives.
The creation of polymers, like plastics and nylons, are applications of organic chemistry. Oil and everything that comes from it are made up of organic molecules. In addition, cleaning products like soaps often come from organic materials, as do most medicines. Thus, organic chemistry is important for discovering new medicines, extending human lives, and is found in products all over the supermarket.