Duration: 150 min College School Grade: 6 Inorganic Chemistry 2

Carbon, elementary in life

Group 13
Lesson overview

Although carbon compounds form the basis of organic chemistry, there is a well-developed and important inorganic
chemistry of carbon as well. In fact, the chemistry of C60 and its derivatives, the fullerenes, is one of the most active
new areas of inorganic chemistry.

Learning objectives

Find out what a Carbon is.

Compare the structure of a Carbon and other elements in Group 14, find out the differences and similarities. Define
the process of the production and its application in a life.

Keywords
Element, structure, physical and chemical properties, industrial uses, carbon compounds, fullerenes
1. Activity – How I imagine a Carbon and Find its Types

At the beginning of this class, create discussion groups of 5 groups. Discuss with your friends about what carbon is like and what should
happen. Use your imagination and references to describe what carbon is like. Discover the types of carbon that exist in everyday life (may
not be the same for each group). Each group explains about one type of carbon they found. Explanation of each group is only for certain
groups and please do a video recording when explaining the type of carbon. Discussion activities can be done anywhere. Send the recorded
video to e-mail: muschemistry@yahoo.com.

Follow this exercise with the following discussion questions.

2. Discussion – Carbon, an element in life

Question:

What is carbon? Do you think carbon is a living thing or a constituent element of a living thing or cannot be used by living things? Where
can we find carbon?
Is carbon harmful or beneficial to us? What is the carbon difference from black charcoal? What are the similarities?
Does carbon have its types? Where can we find these types of carbon? What is the nature and characteristics of carbon?
How does carbon affect climate change and the ecosystem of living things?
3a. Topic – What is a Carbon?
 Carbon (C) is an element
 All things (matter) are made of
element
 Carbon is the most important
element found in all life
Carbon is a chemical element, like hydrogen,
oxygen, lead or any of the others in the periodic
table.
Carbon is a very abundant element. It exists in
pure or nearly pure forms – such as diamonds
and graphite – but can also combine with other
elements to form molecules. These carbon-based
molecules are the basic building blocks of
humans, animals, plants, trees and soils. Some
greenhouse gases, such as CO2 and methane,
also consist of carbon-based molecules, as do
fossil fuels, which are largely made up of
hydrocarbons (molecules consisting of hydrogen
and carbon).
 3b. Topic – Carbon, harmfull or beneficial?
Elemental carbon is of very low toxicity. Health hazard data presented here is based on exposures to carbon black, not
elemental carbon. Chronic inhalation exposure to carbon black may result in temporary or permanent damage to lungs and
heart.
Pneumoconiosis has been found in workers engaged in the production of carbon black. Skin conditions such as inflammation of
the hair follicles, and oral mucosal lesions have also been reported from skin exposure.
Carcinogenicity- Carbon black has been listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) within Group 3 (The
agent is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans).
Some simple carbon compound can be very toxic, such as carbon monoxide (CO) or cyanide (CN-).
Carbon 14 is one of the radionuclides involved in atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons, which began in 1945, with a US test,
and ended in 1980 with a Chinese test. It is among the long-lived radionuclides that have produced and will continue to
produce increased cancers risk for decades and centuries to come. It also can cross the placenta, become organically bound in
developing cells and hence endanger fetuses.

Essentially a carbon-60 molecule is comprised of 60 carbon atoms which are arranged in a unique shape that can be thought
of as a 'carbon cage'. This shape resembles that of a soccer ball, comprising of 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons. At the vertex
of each shape is one carbon atom, with a double bond forming the edges. Another name for this unique structure is a
truncated icosahedron.
This shape is what gives C60 all of it's amazing properties, including being resistant to radiation, chemical corrosion and
breakage under high pressure. Metals and other substances can be placed inside the vacuum interiors of buckyballs, turning
them into novel nano-transport vehicles or superconductors. They are small enough to move through cell membranes and
sit between woven strands of DNA. 2
Carbon-60 also readily reacts with other substances and is able to easily combine with just about any compound to enhance
its action.
Furthermore, C60 was found in deep space and stardust, as well as ancient mineral deposits and meteorites found on Earth,
suggesting that it predates life on the planet
3c. Topic – The Types of Carbon?

Carbon in nature is found in three forms called

allotropes: diamond, graphite, and fullerenes. Graphite,
with clay, is in pencils. It is very soft. The carbon atoms in
it make rings, which are on top of each other and slide
very easily. Diamonds are the hardest natural mineral.
Fullerenes are a “soccer ball" shape of carbon. They are
mostly of interest to science. A special, man-made, tube-
shaped allotrope of carbon is the carbon nanotube.
Carbon nanotubes are very hard, so they might be used
in armor. Nanotubes might be useful in nanotechnology.
There are 10 million known carbon compounds.
3d. Topic – Carbon, its Effect of Climate Change and Ecosystem of Living Things?

In the context of climate change, "carbon" is commonly used as a shorthand for carbon dioxide, the most important
greenhouse gas released by humans. Technically, however, this isn't accurate. Carbon only becomes carbon dioxide when
each atom of carbon joins with two atoms of oxygen (hence the chemical formula of carbon dioxide, CO2).
This shorthand can sometimes cause confusion, because although "a tonne of carbon" will often be used to mean "a
tonne of CO2", in a scientific context the same phrase could mean "CO2 containing a tonne of carbon" (which is a much
smaller amount, as oxygen accounts for most of the weight of each CO2 molecule).
The term carbon also crops up in the phrase carbon footprint, which describes the total amount of greenhouse gases
released as the result of a given activity. In this context, "a tonne of carbon" may mean something else still: "a mix of
greenhouse gases with a combined warming impact equivalent to that of a tonne of CO2".
Carbon molecules move around the Earth system in the carbon cycle
 Black carbon has a much greater (twice the direct) climate impact than reported in previous assessments.
 Black carbon ranks “as the second most important individual climate-warming agent after carbon dioxide”.
 Cleaning up diesel engines and some wood and coal combustion could slow the warming immediately.

Carbon is the second most abundant element in living organisms. Carbon is present in all organic molecules,
and its role in the structure of macromolecules is of primary importance to living organisms. Carbon compounds
contain especially high energy, particularly those derived from fossilized organisms, mainly plants, which
humans use as fuel. Since the 1800s, the number of countries using massive amounts of fossil fuels has
increased. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, global demand for the Earth’s limited fossil fuel
supplies has risen; therefore, the amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has increased. This increase in
carbon dioxide has been associated with climate change and other disturbances of the Earth’s ecosystems and
is a major environmental concern worldwide. Thus, the “carbon footprint” is based on how much carbon
dioxide is produced and how much fossil fuel countries consume.
4. Activity – Carbon and Its Types

Tool
PC / Laptop, internet connection, markers and paperboard.

Instructions
Make a summary of carbon based on the questions above. Summary is typed in A4 paper size.
Especially for one type of carbon, draw a picture of the structure and description on cardboard.
Create a discussion video in a small group. Maximum video duration is 10 minutes. Send the video to
e-mail: muschemistry@yahoo.com.