Carbon and Its Compounds

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Carbon forms so many compounds because it is tetravalent, it forms strong covalent bonds, and it shows catenation, which means carbon atoms can link with one another to form long chains, branches, and…

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Catenation is the unique property of carbon to form long chains of carbon atoms. This property helps create a large variety of organic compounds.

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The electronic configuration of carbon is 2,4. Its valency is 4 because it needs four more electrons to complete its octet.

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Carbon does not easily gain four electrons or lose four electrons because both processes need a lot of energy. So carbon usually shares electrons and forms covalent bonds.

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The three naturally occurring isotopes of carbon are 12C, 13C, and 14C. Carbon-14 is radioactive and has a half-life of 5730 years.

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Carbon-14 is used in radiocarbon dating. Since its half-life is 5730 years, the amount remaining in once-living material helps estimate its age.

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Allotropes are different forms of the same element in the same physical state. Carbon has three natural allotropes: diamond, graphite, and fullerene.

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Diamond has a three-dimensional tetrahedral network of carbon atoms. Each carbon atom is bonded to four others by strong covalent bonds, so the structure is very rigid and hard.