It is a 60-atom structure called buckminsterfullerene that looks like a soccer ball when viewed under a microscope. In 1985, a third allotropic form of carbon was discovered. Skillful gem cutters are able to cut and polish diamonds in a way that maximizes the effect of this natural property. Its ability to bend and spread light produces the spectacular rainbow "fire" that is often associated with diamond jewelry. In striking contrast with graphite, diamond is the world's hardest natural material. The second common allotrope of carbon is diamond. Graphite is soft enough to be scratched with a fingernail. Graphite is a soft, shiny, dark gray or black, greasy-feeling mineral used to make the "lead" in lead pencils. (Allotropes are forms of an element that differ from each other in physical and, sometimes, chemical properties.) The two best known allotropes of carbon are graphite and diamond. As an element, it exists in at least three different allotropic forms. Occurrence of carbonĬarbon occurs both as an element and in combined forms. And diamonds, another form of carbon, are described in the Bible and even older Hindu manuscripts. Many reports also detail the practice of mixing lampblack, a form of carbon, with olive oil and balsam gum to make a primitive form of ink. A Greek historian of the fourth century b.c., for example, tells of a natural gas well in Turkey that provided a perpetual flame for religious ceremonies. (An oxide is an inorganic compound whose only negative part is the element oxygen.)Ĭarbon was one of the first elements known to humans. The two oxides of carbon, are profoundly important not only in the survival of living organisms but also in a host of industrial operations. Finally, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, Coal, oil, and natural gas -the so-called fossil fuels -all consist of pure carbon or carbon compounds. In addition, carbon and its compounds are of critical importance to the world as sources of energy. In fact, the field of organic chemistry, which began as the study of the chemistry of plants and animals, can also be called the chemistry of carbon compounds. CarbonĬarbon is one of the most remarkable of all chemical elements. In spite of this fact, the elements have less in common physically and chemically than do the members of most other families of elements. The atoms of all Group 14 elements have four electrons in their outermost energy level. (A metalloid is an element that has some of the properties of both metals and nonmetals.) The family is particularly interesting because it consists of one nonmetal (carbon), two metals (tin and lead), and two metalloids (silicon and germanium). The carbon family consists of the five elements that make up Group 14 of the periodic table: carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, and lead.
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