GRAPHITE

GRAPHITE AND
ITS APPEARANCE
 Graphite is an allotrope of
Carbon, in crystalline form.
 Graphite has a non-lustorous,
grey, crystalline solid
appearance.
STRUCTURE OF GRAPHITE

 Graphite has a layer structure as it is composed of different layers.

 The distance between the layers is about 2.5 times the distance between atoms in each layer.

 The layers extend over a huge number of atoms.

BONDING IN GRAPHITE
 Each carbon atom uses three of its electrons to form
simple covalent bonds to three other closest atoms.
 A fourth electron is left unbonded as carbon has 4
electrons in the valence shell.
 These extra electrons in each carbon aom become
delocalized in one layer over the whole sheet and are free
to move throughout the sheet as they become unassociated
directly with an atom or pair of atoms.
 In graphite, Vanderwalls dispersion forces occur. Very
large temporary dipoles can be produced when delocalized
electrons move around a sheet, and this will induce
opposite dipoles in the sheets above and below which
holds all the sheets together throughout the graphite
crystal.
MELTING POINT OF
GRAPHITE

 Graphite has a large melting point as

in order to melt graphite, you have to
break the covalent bonding
throghhout the whole structure and
not just lossening one sheet from
another. Its melting point is more
than 3600 degrees Celsius.
DENSITY OF GRAPHITE

 Graphite has quite a low density compared to other allotropes of

Carbon such as Diamond. This is because of the relatively large
amount of space between sheets. Its density is approximately 2.266
grams per cubic centimeter.
SOLUBILITY OF GRAPHITE

 Graphite is insoluble in water and organic solvents. This is because the

attraction between the molecules of the solvent and the carbon atoms
are never strong enough to overcome the strong covalent bonds in
graphite.
ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY OF
GRAPHITE

 Graphite is a good electrical conductor. This is because it contains one

delocalized electron per atom and thhese are free to move around the
sheet.
USES OF GRAPHITE

 Graphite has a soft slipper feel, this is because the different layers of
graphite can slide over each other.
 Therefore it can be used in:

 Pencils

 As a dry lubricant in locks

 Electric rods in electrolysis since it conducts electricity

BIBLIOGRAPHY

 giant covalent structures (2021). Available at: http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/structures/giantcov.html (Accessed: 6

November 2021).