Contents
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 4
Meaning
Carbon is an element containing 6 protons.
About Carbon
- The most common isotope of carbon is Carbon-12 which has 6 protons and 6 neutrons in the nucleus.
- Carbon has 4 electrons in its outer shell so it can form 4 bonds with other atoms.
- Carbon is able to make long chains of atoms to produce compounds called polymers.
There are several allotropes of Carbon including:
Examples
Diamond is a giant covalent structure where each Carbon atom has 4 bonds with adjacent atoms. | Graphite has a giant covalent structure with each Carbon atom has 3 bonds with adjacent atoms in a layer with loose bonds between the layers. | Graphene has a giant covalent structure where each Carbon atom has 3 bonds with adjacent atoms forming a layer that is one atom thick. | Fullerenes have a giant covalent structure where each Carbon atom has 3 bonds with adjacent atoms forming a sphere. |