Which of the following compounds is made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a 1:2:1 ratio?

The compound that is made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in a 1:2:1 ratio is carbohydrates. This specific ratio is characteristic of simple sugars, such as glucose, which are the building blocks of carbohydrates. For example, the molecular formula for glucose is C6H12O6, which clearly demonstrates this 1:2:1 ratio of carbon to hydrogen to oxygen.

Carbohydrates serve as a primary energy source for living organisms and play essential roles in structural components of cells, such as cellulose in plant cell walls and glycogen in animal cells. This unique composition allows them to readily form rings and other structures, enabling their various functions in biological systems.

In contrast, proteins are made up of amino acids that contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, but do not follow the 1:2:1 ratio. Fats, which are lipids, consist mainly of long chains of fatty acids and do not conform to this simple ratio either. Nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, are composed of nucleotides containing carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and phosphorus, which further distinguishes them from carbohydrates. Thus, carbohydrates are uniquely identified by their specific 1:2:1 ratio of carbon