CARBON AND

ITS COMPOUND
 INDEX
What is Carbon?

Bonding in Carbon

Versatile Nature of Carbon

Allotropes of Carbon

Organic Compounds

NCERT Questions

Homework Questions
 WHAT IS CARBON?

An element Non-metal Base of life

Atomic Number
6

Valency
4
 Earlier organic and inorganic
compounds were studied together
but later organic chemistry was
made as a separate branch.
 Why are organic
compounds studied
as a separate branch
of chemistry?
Organic compounds are studied as
separate branch of chemistry
because carbon single-handedly
makes more compounds than all
other elements together.
 Organic compounds are
generally the compounds with
C-H bond.
 Earth’s crust has only 0.02%
1. carbon in the form of minerals.

Atmosphere has 0.03% carbon

2. dioxide.

All living things are made of

3. carbon.
 Cotton Cellulose

Cotton Our bodies CARBON Food

Rubber
polymer of the
Wood monomer
named
isoprene (C5H8
BONDING IN CARBON
❏ Carbon has four electrons in its
outermost shell.

❏ But it neither loses them nor gains

four electrons. Instead, it shares the
valence shell.
 Why can’t carbon
lose four electrons?
Carbon has six number of protons and six
number of electrons.

ANSWER

If carbon will lose four electrons from

the valence shell it would require a lot
of ionization energy and it would leave
six protons holding just two electrons.
Why carbon cannot
gain four electrons?
 ANSWER

It could gain four electrons forming C4–

anion. But it would be difficult for the
nucleus with six protons to hold on to
ten electrons, that is, four extra
electrons.
Since carbon atoms can achieve
the inert gas electron
arrangement only by sharing of
electrons, carbon always form
covalent bonds.
 Such bonds which are formed by the
sharing of an electron pair between two
atoms are known as covalent bonds.

Covalently bonded molecules are seen to

have strong bonds within the molecules,
but intermolecular forces are weak.

Hence, they generally have low melting or

boiling point.
Examples of Covalent Bond

Atomic no. 1

H x x H

x
H x H

. Nitrogen Atomic no. 7

H2 molecule

xx
N xx N
xx

N2 molecule
.
Examples of Covalent Bond

Carbon atomic no. 6

Hydrogen atomic no. 1

H X C X H
X

H
Why does carbon form compounds mainly by
covalent bonding?

A. There are four electrons in the outermost

shell of carbon

B. It requires large amount of energy to form

C4+

C. It shares its valence electrons to complete

its octet

D. All of the above

Why does carbon form compounds mainly by
covalent bonding?

A. There are four electrons in the outermost

shell of carbon

B. It requires large amount of energy to form

C4+

C. It shares its valence electrons to complete

its octet

D. All of the above

How many electrons are there in the
outermost shell of carbon?

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4
How many electrons are there in the
outermost shell of carbon?

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4
VERSATILE NATURE OF CARBON
 The nature of the covalent bond enables
carbon to form a large number of
compounds.

Two properties of carbon are largely

responsible for its versatile nature:

1. Catenation

2. Tetravalency
 CATENATION

The property of carbon element due to

which its atom can join with one another
to form long carbon chains is known as
catenation (self-linking).

No other element exhibits the property

of catenation to the extent seen in
carbon compounds.
 Silicon forms compounds with
hydrogen which have chains of upto
seven or eight atoms, but these
compounds are very reactive.

The carbon-carbon bond is very

strong and hence stable.
 When carbon
atoms combine
with one another,
three types of
chains are formed:
 TETRAVALENCY

Due to its large valency, a carbon atom can

form covalent bonds with other carbon
atoms or with even different elements
(oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur,
chlorine, etc.).

The bonds that carbon forms with most

other elements are very strong making
these compounds exceptionally stable
Why carbon form
strong bonds?
 One reason is its small size. This
enables the nucleus to hold on to the
shared pairs of electrons strongly.

The bonds formed by the elements

having bigger atoms are much
weaker.
Carbon exists in the atmosphere in the form
of

A. Only carbon monoxide

B. Carbon monoxide in traces and carbon

dioxide

C. Only carbon dioxide

D. Coal
Carbon exists in the atmosphere in the form
of

A. Only carbon monoxide

B. Carbon monoxide in traces and carbon

dioxide

C. Only carbon dioxide

D. Coal
ALLOTROPES OF CARBON
 Allotropism is the property of
some elements to exist in two or
more different forms, in the same
physical state, known as
allotropes of the elements.

Allotropes - are the various

physical forms that an element
can exist in.

Three allotropes of carbon:

1. Diamond (hardest substance,

colorless, transparent)
2. Graphite
3. Buckminsterfullerene
 Features of Diamond

Does not
conduct
Hardest electricity

Each carbon
Form CO2 atom is bonded to
4 other carbon
when burnt in
atoms forming a
Structure of Diamond O2 presence. rigid 3D structure.
 Features of Graphite

Greyish black

Opaque

Lighter than diamond

Slippery / glides

Each carbon atom is bonded to 3 carbon

atoms in same plane (one of it is a double
bond). Graphite has delocalised electrons, just like
metals. These electrons are free to move between the
layers in graphite, so graphite can conduct electricity. Structure of Graphite
 Features of Fullerene

Another class of carbon

allotropes.

Dark solid at room

temperature

Neither very hard, nor

soft like graphite

Eg., Buckminsterfullerene (C-60)

football structure. (20 hexagons + 12
pentagons carbon atoms in one Structure of C-60
molecule). Buckminsterfullerene
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
Compounds of carbon are commonly known
as organic compound.

1. Organic compounds have low melting

and boiling points.

2. Non-conductor of electricity.

3. Occur in all flora and fauna.

 Oxides of carbon, carbonates,
carbides, hydrogencarbonate are not
considered as organic compounds, as
they have very different properties
from common organic compounds.

Study of organic compounds such as

hydrocarbons and their derivation is
called as organic chemistry.
 HISTORY

Initially, all the organic matter was

derived from natural (living) things.

So, it was believed that organic

compound can only be produced in
living things (Vital Force Theory-
vital force is necessary) which was
proven wrong by Friedrich Wöhler
(1828), when he prepared urea
[Co(NH2)] in the lab from an
inorganic compound- Ammonium
cyanate (NH4CNO).
Buckminsterfullerene is an example
of……………of carbon.

A. An isomer

B. An isotope

C. An allotrope

D. A functional group
Buckminsterfullerene is an example
of……………of carbon.

A. An isomer

B. An isotope

C. An allotrope

D. A functional group
 NCERT
QUESTIONS
What would be the electron dot
structure of carbon dioxide which has
the formula CO2?

Answer
What would be electron dot structure of
sulphur which is made up of eight
atoms of sulphur.

Answer
What would be electron dot structure of
sulphur which is made up of eight
atoms of sulphur.

Answer
Homework
Questions
1. Which of the following is not the property
of carbon?

A. Carbon compounds are good conductor of

heat and electricity

B. Carbon compounds are poor conductor of

heat and electricity

C. Most of the carbon compounds are covalent

compounds

D. Boiling and melting point of carbon

compounds are relatively lower than those
of ionic compounds
2. Which of the following is the purest form
of carbon?

A. Charcoal

B. Coal

C. Diamond

D. Graphite