Abstract
The degradation of organic material is a familiar experience. Organic molecules are high energy configurations of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms. These configurations may also contain nitrogen and a small proportion of other elements such as sodium, phosphorous, sulfur, potassium, calcium, and iron. The atoms in these molecules tend to reorganize into arrangements that have a lower energy, and eventually break down into water, carbon dioxide, and relatively simple compounds of carbon and the other elements. Organisms such as bacteria derive energy from the more complex organic molecules by enzymes that vastly increase the rate of breakdown (digestion).