hasemwall.blogg.se

Hence carbon as an element has the ability to form a variety of stable compounds, which can exist freely in nature.Įxample: saturated hydrocarbons like Propane and Ethane. The small size of the carbon atom makes the compounds of Carbon exceptionally stable. What makes carbon unique is its ability in forming covalent bonds which are very strong in nature. But due to its higher atomic number (in comparison to Carbon), its atoms are too large to fit together into as great a variety of molecules as carbon atoms can. Silicon (Si), another element in group 14 of the periodic table, also has four valence electrons and can make large molecules called silicones. The carbon atom also has the ability to form a bond with other carbon atoms to create covalent bonds forming long strings of carbon atoms, bonded to each other like links in a chain. The carbon’s four valence electrons can be shared by other atoms (that have electrons to share), thus forming what we call covalent bonds (shared electrons bonds). Because of this arrangement within the atom’s orbits, carbon is called tetravalent. This basically means that carbon has four valence electrons (outer electrons that are available for forming bonds with other atoms). Two are in the completed inner orbit, while four electrons are found in the atom’s outermost orbit. (Source: Wikipedia) Versatile Nature of CarbonĬarbon has the atomic number of 6, meaning each carbon atom has a total of six electrons. The following is a deeper understanding of how these unique properties of tetra-valency and catenation result in a highly versatile nature of carbon: Tetra-valency of Carbon Chemical Properties of Carbon Compounds.Browse more Topics under Carbon And Its Compounds

Not only is carbon the fourth most abundant element in the universe, it has so far more than three million compounds know to us till date. It is because of these properties that the element has the capacity to form a large number of compounds. But what makes Carbon such an interesting element can be directly attributed to its two unique properties, i.e.