15 essential facts you must know about Carbon

Some of the most essential facts you must know about Carbon:

Summary

1. Carbon is tetravalent in all its compounds.

2. It always forms covalent compounds.

3. Allotropy is the property of an element by virtue of which it can exist in more than one form in the same physical state, having the same chemical properties but different physical properties.

4. Diamond and graphite are crystalline allotropes of carbon.

5. In diamond, each of the four valence electrons of the carbon atom is bonded strongly with another carbon atom by covalent bonds.

6. Diamond is a bad conductor of heat and electricity.

7. In graphite, each carbon atom is attached to three others within the same plane. Therefore, only three out of four valence electrons are involved in carbon-carbon bonding.

8. Graphite is a good conductor of electricity.

9. Coal, charcoal and lampblack are forms of amorphous carbon.

10. Charcoal can be made out of wood, sugar and animal bone.

11. Compounds of carbon like oxides, carbides, cyanides and carbonates are inorganic compounds.

12. Hydrocarbons are compounds made up of atoms of carbon and hydrogen.

13. Hydrocarbons are of two types, saturated and unsaturated.

14. Catenation is a property of carbon atoms due to which they combine with other carbon atoms to form long chains.