News tagged with carbon atoms
Size matters -- even for molecules
(PhysOrg.com) -- Two electrons that are emitted from a large molecule by a single photon may originate from far apart within that molecule. In a recent study on hydrocarbon molecules consisting of one to five ...
Feb 03, 2012 |
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Ultra-fast photodetector and terahertz generator
Photodetectors made from graphene can process and conduct light signals as well as electric signals extremely fast. Within picoseconds the optical stimulation of graphene generates a photocurrent. Until now, ...
Jan 31, 2012 |
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Microscopy reveals 'atomic antenna' behavior in graphene
Atomic-level defects in graphene could be a path forward to smaller and faster electronic devices, according to a study led by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jan 31, 2012 |
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Bilayer graphene works as an insulator
A research team led by physicists at the University of California, Riverside has identified a property of "bilayer graphene" (BLG) that the researchers say is analogous to finding the Higgs boson in particle ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jan 24, 2012 |
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Computer simulations give insights into how carbon dioxide reacts with a sequestering liquid
(PhysOrg.com) -- Worse than toddlers on a sugar high, carbon dioxide molecules just don't like standing still. The tiny molecules, just three atoms, leap from place to place in less than a trillionth of a ...
Jan 18, 2012 |
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Neutron scattering provides window into surface interactions
To better understand the fundamental behavior of molecules at surfaces, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are combining the powers of neutron scattering with chemical analysis.
Jan 17, 2012 |
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New chemical reaction holds promise for drug development
A team of researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has devised a new method for making complex molecules. The reaction they have come up with should enable chemists to synthesize new ...
Jan 12, 2012 |
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Persilastaffanes: silicon frameworks with delocalized sigma electrons
(PhysOrg.com) -- Persilastaffanes are an unusual new class of compounds that are introduced in the journal Angewandte Chemie by Japanese researchers led by Takeaki Iwamoto at Tohoku University. They are ro ...
Jan 09, 2012 |
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Graphene reveals its magnetic personality
(PhysOrg.com) -- Can organic matter behave like a fridge magnet? Scientists from The University of Manchester have now shown that it can.
Jan 08, 2012 |
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Graphene's piezoelectric promise
Engineers predict that graphene can be coaxed into acting piezoelectric, merely by punching triangular holes into the material.
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jan 05, 2012 |
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Graphene offers protection from intense laser pulses
Researchers from Singapore and the UK have jointly announced a new benchmark in broadband, non-linear optical-limiting behavior using single-sheet graphene dispersions in a variety of heavy-atom solvents and ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 30, 2011 |
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Chemists devise a way to create a five point knotted molecule
(PhysOrg.com) -- Chemists have for a long time been interested in a type of molecule that is literally tied up into a knot. This is where atoms are bonded together to form strands, which are then twisted around ...
'Label-free' imaging tool tracks nanotubes in cells, blood for biomedical research
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have demonstrated a new imaging tool for tracking structures called carbon nanotubes in living cells and the bloodstream, which could aid efforts to perfect their use in biomedical ...
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 05, 2011 |
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Researchers invent a switch that could improve electronics
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have invented a new type of electronic switch that performs electronic logic functions within a single molecule. The incorporation of such single-molecule elements could enable ...
Dec 01, 2011 |
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Graphene earns its stripes: New nanoscale electronic state discovered on graphene sheets
Researchers from the London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) have discovered electronic stripes, called 'charge density waves', on the surface of the graphene sheets that make up a graphitic superconductor. ...
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Nov 29, 2011 |
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Carbon
Carbon (pronounced /ˈkɑrbən/) is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. There are three naturally occurring isotopes, with 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is radioactive, decaying with a half-life of about 5730 years. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity. The name "carbon" comes from Latin language carbo, coal, and, in some Romance and Slavic languages, the word carbon can refer both to the element and to coal.
There are several allotropes of carbon of which the best known are graphite, diamond, and amorphous carbon. The physical properties of carbon vary widely with the allotropic form. For example, diamond is highly transparent, while graphite is opaque and black. Diamond is among the hardest materials known, while graphite is soft enough to form a streak on paper (hence its name, from the Greek word "to write"). Diamond has a very low electrical conductivity, while graphite is a very good conductor. Under normal conditions, diamond has the highest thermal conductivity of all known materials. All the allotropic forms are solids under normal conditions but graphite is the most thermodynamically stable.
All forms of carbon are highly stable, requiring high temperature to react even with oxygen. The most common oxidation state of carbon in inorganic compounds is +4, while +2 is found in carbon monoxide and other transition metal carbonyl complexes. The largest sources of inorganic carbon are limestones, dolomites and carbon dioxide, but significant quantities occur in organic deposits of coal, peat, oil and methane clathrates. Carbon forms more compounds than any other element, with almost ten million pure organic compounds described to date, which in turn are a tiny fraction of such compounds that are theoretically possible under standard conditions.
Carbon is one of the least abundant elements in the Earth's crust, but the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. It is present in all known lifeforms, and in the human body carbon is the second most abundant element by mass (about 18.5%) after oxygen. This abundance, together with the unique diversity of organic compounds and their unusual polymer-forming ability at the temperatures commonly encountered on Earth, make this element the chemical basis of all known life.
For more information about Carbon, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.