CARBON AND ITS ALLOTROPES

When it comes to carbon, most people will think of coal. But few will remember what they studied in 10th standard, about the allotropes of carbon, namely Graphite, Diamond and Fullerenes. Let us discuss that in brief.

GRAPHITE: -

Graphite structure

It is the form of carbon in which atoms are arranged hexagonally, layer by layer. It is the most stable form of carbon. Therefore, its formation enthalpy is taken as zero. It conducts electricity as the electrons can move freely.

Lead of pencil is made up of graphite

It is very soft and slippery. Oils cannot be used at high temperature. Therefore, it is used as a lubricant for machines at very high temperature. It is also used as fibres in plastic for great strength. Every layer of graphite has a gap of 340 picometers from each other. Each carbon has sp2 hybridisation.

DIAMOND: -

Structure of Diamond

It is the form of carbon with a crystal structure. It is the hardest substance on earth. The hardness is due to the extended covalent bond. It is used to make jeweller, cutting tools. It is also used in the manufacture of tungsten filaments in light bulbs.

Every carbon atom is bonded to four other carbon atoms. Therefore, each carbon atom has sp3 hybridisation. The bond length is 154 pm. The formation enthalpy of the diamond is 1.9 kJ/mol.

FULLERENES: -

Structure of Fullerence

They are artificially created by heating graphite in an electric arc. Fullerenes are of many types, depending on the number of bonded carbons. Most important of them is the buckminsterfullerene.

It has 60 carbon atoms bonded in it. It has the shape of a soccer ball. The bond length of the single bond is 143.5 pm and that of the double bond is 138.3 pm. Its formation enthalpy is 38.1 kJ/mol. Therefore, it is not found in nature.

There are other forms of carbons like carbon black, coke, etc. But they are not allotropes as they have other components too.

Comments

CLASSIFICATION OF PERSONALITY ON THE BASIS OF BODY TYPE (Physique) by W.H. Sheldon

W.H. Sheldon William Herbert Sheldon was a American psychologist who classified personality of an individual on the basis of body posture and shape which are endomorph, mesomorph and ectomorph. Endomorphs Endomorphs have short arms and legs. that is their limbs are shorter due deposition of adipose tissue. It is hard for them to loose weight. They have soft body and have high capacity for high fat storage. Their excessive mass hinders their ability to compete in sports, but those sports which requires strength like weight lifting, powerlifting and wrestling are suitable for them. Mesomorphs Mesomorphs have athletic physique and body composition, their chest and shoulder are broader than their waistline. They can easily gain or loose weight. they can perform well in sports need strength, agility and speed. Ectomorphs Ectomorphs are slim. they have elongated muscled and limbs, They usually face great difficulties in gaining weight. Their chest is also flat and have less ...

Spreading Smiles: Shakti Sutra Team's Trip to Phechaan The Street School

We all know the impact of education on our lives and in society. In schools, we studied the role of education in different domains and eras, from revolutionaries who fought for our independence to social reformers who gave our society new directions to the great scientists who changed our lives through time-changing discoveries and inventions. The contributions of these people are incomparable. They all had a different mission that made them extraordinary but that's not the point here. The matter to ponder is that you are reading the words I wrote. You are interpreting these sentences, that might be different from others depending on your background and experiences. You are making an analogy that might be different from the analogies of others. A philosophy student might infer the words slightly differently than a student of history. Sorry, there are no numbers to tally for the commerce people and no equation for the science people. But believe me, there is nothing to do with all t...

DNA FINGERPRINTING

What is DNA fingerprinting? Alec Jeffreys DNA fingerprinting is a technique to identify a person based on his/her DNA specificity. Every individual organism is unique. Thus every person has unique DNA fingerprint. It can't change by any known technique. It is a quick way to compare the DNA sequences of any two individuals. DNA fingerprinting developed by Alec Jeffreys. Paternity test Applications: Paternity test Criminal Identification Determination of population diversity Determination of genetic diversity Principle: It has found that the DNA of an individual carries some specific nucleotide sequences which don't code for any information or proteins. These sequences repeated many times and found at many places throughout the DNA. These sequences of satellite DNA which are very specific in each individual and vary in number from person to person and are inherited. These are a variable number of tandem repeats (VNTRs). Each individual inherits th...

DAK

Search This Blog