Which statement best illustrates why carbon is so important to living things?
carbon occurs as a solid, a liquid, and a gas.
carbon is found in both the living and nonliving worlds.
carbon is stored in large quantities in fossil fuels.
carbon-based macromolecules are found in all life forms.

Carbon-based macromolecules are found in all life forms.

Explanation:

Most of the living beings on earth are composed of carbon based macromolecules. There are four main macromolecules found in living beings. These are carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.

Carbohydrates are the molecules that are composed of hydrogen, carbon and oxygen. These carbohydrates are broken into simple substances so as to obtain energy.

Lipids are molecules that include cholestrol, fats and oils. These are non- polar in nature that is they do not get dissolved in water. The lipids are composed of atoms of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They form the part of the cell structure.

Proteins are also the carbon based macromolecules. A protein is a polymer that is composed of monomers of amino acids. Living organisms use 20 different aminoacids to build up different kinds of proteins. Our body make up 12 aminoacids. The other 8 aminoacids comes from the food sources like meat, nuts and beans.

Nucleic acids: These are the polymers that are composed of nucleotide monomers. In living beings two types of nucleic acids are found called as DNA and RNA. Carbon is the main ingredient in these nucleic acids. These are important for transmission of genetic information from the parents to their offsprings.