Grade 9 Environmental Chemistry Practice Test

Understanding how carbon content defines different kinds of compounds helps here. Organic means carbon-based, often with hydrogen, and forms many substances we encounter in biology and daily life. Substances that do not contain carbon fall into the inorganic category. Water is a classic example of an inorganic substance, and minerals are inorganic materials as well. So, the broad term for substances that do not contain carbon is inorganic. There are carbon-containing inorganic compounds in more advanced chemistry, but at this level, inorganic is the most appropriate and general label.