Graphite is a good electrical conductor while diamond has a low electrical conductivity. Graphite is soft enough to form a streak on paper (hence its name, from the Greek verb 'γράφειν' which means 'to write'), while diamond is the hardest naturally occurring material known. For example, graphite is opaque and black, while diamond is highly transparent. The physical properties of carbon vary widely with the allotropic form. Well-known allotropes include graphite, diamond, amorphous carbon, and fullerenes. The atoms of carbon can bond together in diverse ways, resulting in various allotropes of carbon. It is the second most abundant element in the human body by mass (about 18.5%) after oxygen. Carbon's abundance, its unique diversity of organic compounds, and its unusual ability to form polymers at the temperatures commonly encountered on Earth, enables this element to serve as a common element of all known life. Ĭarbon is the 15th most abundant element in the Earth's crust, and the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity. Three isotopes occur naturally, 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is a radionuclide, decaying with a half-life of about 5,730 years. Carbon makes up about 0.025 percent of Earth's crust. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent-its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds.

−4, −3, −2, −1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4 (a mildly acidic oxide)Ĭarbon (from Latin carbo 'coal') is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6.

Carbon periodic table diagram