Final answer:
Organic compounds are not important sources of electrolytes; inorganic compounds such as water, salts, acids, and bases fulfill this role by providing crucial ions and maintaining body fluid balance.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that organic compounds are important sources of electrolytes is false. Inorganic electrolytes such as salts are more important in the distribution and retention of body water. These inorganic compounds, which include water, salts, acids, and bases, play a critical role in human functioning. Inorganic compounds are essential, as they do not contain both hydrogen and carbon.
Water serves multiple functions in the body, such as being a lubricant, cushion, heat sink, component of liquid mixtures, a byproduct of dehydration synthesis reactions, and a reactant in hydrolysis reactions. Salts, when dissolved in water, dissociate into ions other than H+ or OH-, while acids release H+ in solution, making it more acidic, and bases accept H+, reducing the acidity and increasing the alkalinity.
Inorganic compounds make up 1% to 1.5% of the dry weight of living cells but are crucial to cellular function and carbon fixation. The primary electrolytes required in the body fluid include cations like calcium, potassium, sodium, and magnesium, and anions like chloride, carbonates, aminoacetates, phosphates, and iodide, which are considered macrominerals. These inorganic compounds are distinct from organic compounds, which contain both carbon and hydrogen.