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What the name
means: Carbon comes from the Latin
carbo meaning coal or
charcoal.
Who
identified
carbon? Carbon has been used since
prehistoric times. It was produced, as
charcoal, when wood was burnt in a limited
air supply. Carbon was not identified as an
element until 1796 when a chemist named
Smithson Tennant proved that diamond was
made from pure carbon atoms.
About carbon:
Carbon is a non-metal and is the
sixth most common element. A carbon atom is
able to chemically bond to other carbon
atoms, as well as many other different
elements. Carbon is the basis of a branch
of chemistry called organic chemistry. This
branch of chemistry includes the study of
fossil fuels and biochemistry, the study of
the chemicals present in living things. It
is estimated that there are over ten
million known compounds containing the
element carbon. On Earth, carbon can be
found in three different forms, called
allotropes. These allotropes are soot or
powdered carbon, graphite and diamond.
Graphite is soft and black; it is used in
as the “lead” in pencils. Diamond, a rare
and expensive gem stone, is one of the
hardest substances known. |
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