Carbon

Carbon: 

Carbon is known as C and is the 6th element on the "Periodic Table Of Elements." It is located in the Carbon Family or Group 14. Carbon is a non-metal and a solid.

Physical Properties:

• Carbon can be found in the forms of graphite, diamond, and coal. These are all nearly pure forms of carbon.
• Diamonds are transparent, graphite is black and not transparent.
• Diamond is known to be one of the hardest substances known to man and has a very low electrical conductivity.
• Graphite is soft and is a very good conductor.
• Is very brittle.

Graphite

Diamond

Coal

Chemical Properties:

• Combines with oxygen to produce carbon dioxide (C02) and carbon monoxide (CO).
• Carbon does not dissolve or react with water or acids.
• Carbon can make long chains of atoms
• Carbon is now known in a new form known as fullerenes. A fullerene is any molecule composed of entirely carbon. Similar in structure to graphite.

History:

Carbon was firs discovered in 3750 BC. It was known since ancient times. The word carbon was taken from the Latin word "carbo" which means charcoal. Carbon was recognized as an element during the first half of the 18th century. In 1789, A.L proposed carbon as an element. A.G Werner and D.L.G Harsten suggested graphite from the Greek "grapho" that means to write, this was about pencils, which were introduced in 1594. Diamond is a hybrid word from Greek, transparent and invincible. The Hope diamond gets its blue colour from an amount of boron swapping for carbon in the lattice. Same way as nitrogen does for the yellow of the Tiffany diamond. In 1985 a new allotrope of carbon buckminsterfullerence was created, it is made up of 60 carbon atoms in a display like the surface of a soccer ball.

Hope Diamond

Tiffany Diamond

There are many uses for carbon:

• It is extracted as fossil fuels in the form of coal, oil, and natural gas. A little amount is used as a feedstock for the petrochemical industries producing polymers, fibres, paints, solvents and plastics, etc.
• Impure carbon in the form of charcoal and coal is used for metal smelting.
• Graphite is used in pencils, to make brushes in electric motors and in furnace linings. Activated charcoal is used for purification and filtration.
• Carbon fibre is a very strong material and is used often in the sports industry. For example it is used in hockey sticks, tennis rackets, skis, fishing rods. Also in rockets and airplanes.
• Industrial diamonds are used for cutting rocks and drilling. Diamond films are used to protect surfaces such as razor blades.
• Carbon dioxide allows visible light in but keeps some from escaping, this is known as the greenhouse effect. This keeps the Earth warm enough to sustain life.

Metal Smelting

Graphite

Carbon Fibre Hockey Stick

Carbon Fibre Tennis Racket

Carbon Fibre Plane

Diamond Coated Rods Used For Drilling

Importance:

Carbon is important to life because living things need carbon in order to live, grow, and reproduce. Carbon cycles through the Earth in many forms and it is finite. It circulates through the land, ocean, and atmosphere. Carbon can exist as carbon dioxide (CO2), carbonate rocks, coal, petroleum, natural gas, and dead organic matter. Without carbon none of those things would be on Earth meaning we wouldn't be able to function properly. Not only would we die, bu if we some home were able to live we would be out of coal and natural gas which we use for fossil fuels. Without fossil fuels we wouldn't have electricity or fuel for our transportation. We also wouldn't have medicines, cosmetics, plastics, synthetic fabrics, lubricants, or toothpaste. Carbon is essential to life, therefore it is the most important element and we can not live without it.

The Carbon Cycle

Typical Compounds:

Carbon Dioxide (C02), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Disulphide (CS2), Chloroform (CHCL3), Carbon Tetrachloride (CCl4), Methane (CH4), Ethylene (C2H4), Acetylene (C2H2), Benzene (C6H6), Ethyl Alcohol (C2H5OH), Acetic Acid (CH3COOH).

• Carbon is a non-metal that can bond with itself and many other chemical elements, forming nearly 10 million compounds.
• Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen.
• Carbon is one of the few elements whose existence has been known since ancient times.
• Density is 2.2670 grams per cubic centimeter.
• Melting Point is 3,550℃ and Boiling Point is 3,800℃.

• All Images Were Provided Using Google.ca
• "Carbon Properties." Carbon Properties. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2016.
• "Carbon - Element Information, Properties and Uses | Periodic Table." Carbon - Element Information, Properties and Uses | Periodic Table. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.

• "The Element Carbon." It's Elemental - The Element Carbon. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Dec. 2016.