Carbon Facts
Carbon Facts
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| Interesting Carbon Facts: |
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| Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. |
| The three forms of carbon found freely in nature are the amorphous, graphite, and diamond, and each form has vastly different properties. |
| Graphite is one of the softest known materials, while diamond is the hardest known material. |
| A fourth form, buckminsterfullerene, was only discovered a few years ago. |
| Carbon is one of the few elements whose existence has been known and used since ancient times. |
| It was named as an element by Antoine Lavoisier in 1789. |
| The Latin, English, French, German, Dutch, and Danish words for carbon all literally mean "coal substance." |
| All forms of carbon are solids under normal temperatures and pressure conditions. |
| Carbon is present in all known life forms. |
| It is the second most abundant element in humans (about 18% of mass) after oxygen. |
| Carbon is known to form around ten million different compounds. |
| It has the highest sublimation point of all elements at 3915 K (3642 °C, 6588 °F). |
| Carbon has two naturally occurring stale isotopes on Earth, one of which (carbon-12) accounts for 98% of the carbon found in nature. |
| There are fifteen known isotopes of carbon. |
| Thanks to the complicated loop of the carbon cycle, the amount of carbon on Earth is effectively constant. |
| Carbon is the basis for many organic compounds, inorganic compounds, and organometallic compounds. |
| Pure carbon has a very low level of toxicity and can be handled or ingested, but some of its compounds are lethal. |
| Carbon has an extremely varied list of uses for industry and daily living, but two major industries to rely on carbon are the petrochemical industry and steel industry. |
| Carbon in its diamond form is used by both the gem industry and for its industrial purposes. |
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