Related topics: carbon nanotube , graphene , electronic properties , graphite
Carbon
hideCarbon (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.
News tagged with carbon atoms
Fujitsu Develops Technology for Low-Temperature Full-Service Direct Formation of Graphene Transistors on Large-Scale Sub
Nov 27, 2009 |
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Fujitsu Laboratories today announced, as a world first, the development of a novel technology for forming graphene transistors directly on the entire surface of large-scale insulating substrates at low temperatures ...
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Tracing the traces: Nanogram concentrations of a toxic compound detected in chlorinated tap water
Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry
Dec 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Drinking water can transmit a number of diseases, including typhoid, dysentery, cholera, and diarrhea, which can then spread explosively throughout an entire service area. To avoid this problem, drinking ...
Science's breakthrough of the year: Uncovering 'Ardi'
Dec 17, 2009 |
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The research that brought to light the fossils of Ardipithecus ramidus, a hominid species that lived 4.4 million years ago in what is now Ethiopia, has topped Science's list of this year's most significant s ...
Caltech scientists film photons with electrons
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Techniques recently invented by researchers at the California Institute of Technology -- which allow the real-time, real-space visualization of fleeting changes in the structure of nanoscale ...
New way to break some of the strongest chemical bonds
Dec 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Cornell University in the U.S. have found a new way of breaking two of the strongest chemical bonds, at ambient temperature and pressure, and this breakthrough could lead to ...
NASA unveils latest results from lunar mission
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 15, 2009 |
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NASA's current mission in orbit around the moon, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has been providing crucial insights about our nearest celestial neighbor since its launch in June. At a scientific ...
Miracle light: Can lasers solve the energy crisis?
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Next year will mark the 50th birthday of the laser, one of the most productive and widely used mega-inventions of the last century. Scientists hope that 2010 also will see the launch of laser technology's greatest challenge: ...
Muscling in on a mystery protein: Study of brawny pigs reveals key player in the genome
Dec 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- For thousands of years, humans have bred pigs for desirable traits, such as more muscle and less fat in the meat. Domestication makes animals ideal models for studying how genes control physical ...
New imaging nano-technique to change the way we see disease
Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine
Dec 08, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- New nano-technology being developed by physicists at Macquarie University could help medical professionals better understand and more effectively treat cancer and other diseases.
A light touch: Iron complexes as efficient catalysts for the light-driven extraction of hydrogen from water
Dec 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Hydrogen is a promising alternative energy carrier that can be efficiently converted into electrical energy in fuel cells. One hurdle to the introduction of sustainable hydrogen technology is the fact that ...
First Pump-Probe Experiment at Linac Coherent Light Source Completed
Nov 30, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The first experiment using the Linac Coherent Light Source to illuminate molecules via a "pump-probe" technique has been completed by an international team of more than 30 scientists from ...
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