A carbohydrate is an organic compound that consists only of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, usually with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water); in other words, with the empirical formula Cm(H2O)n. (Some exceptions exist; for example, deoxyribose, a component of DNA, has the empirical formula C5H10O4.) Carbohydrates are not technically hydrates of carbon. Structurally it is more accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones.
