What makes carbon a fundamental building block

Let's also think about how we can use our knowledge about matter to understand new engineering technologies. The ancient Greeks started the atomic ball rolling. Democritus was the first to theorize that matter was made of small pieces. Leucippus was the first to use the term atom atomon , which meant "indivisible" in Greek. We now know that the atom is divisible and is made of even smaller pieces — the puzzling subatomic particles. Because the Greeks had no way to test and verify their theories, we had to wait almost years to confirm that atoms do exist, though not quite the way the Greeks imagined.

In the 16th century, Robert Boyle came up with the notion that there were elements that could not be broken down any further, but it was not until the 18th century that John Dalton reasoned that elements might be made of atoms. The basic facts to know about the atom are that it is made up of three basic subatomic particles: 1 electrons negative charge that spin in shells around a nucleus that consists of 2 protons positive charge and 3 neutrons neutral charge.

Generally, the number of protons and electrons balance out to make the atom have an electrically neutral charge. Electrons that are farthest away from the nucleus of an atom valence electrons are the ones that are most easily shared with or transferred to other atoms.

The atoms that are missing an electron or share an additional electron are called ions and combine easily with other ions to make molecules. The number of protons in an atom is called the atomic number.

This number determines the element of the atom. Within an element, the number of neutrons may vary, creating the different isotopes or nuclides.

For the most part, this does not affect the electrical and chemical behavior of the atom. There is some exception with the mass of the isotope, as heavier isotopes tend to react more slowly than lighter ones.

There are some things that affect the number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom, including nuclear fission, nuclear fusion and radioactive decay.

Normally, though, the number of electrons is the particle that is most easily changed, because of its lower bonding energy. Traditionally, the atom was represented as a kind of miniature solar system.

Now, scientists understand that if we could see an atom, it would look more like a fuzzy little cloud. In fact, scientists can only predict where an electron might be in its shell using the probability theory : the exact position and momentum of an electron cannot be determined simultaneously. Figure 1. Atomic scale. Protons and neutrons are about the same mass; however, electrons are over times lighter. How small are we talking? Well, as shown in Figure 1, we're talking very, very tiny.

The atom can be broken down into several, smaller subatomic particles. The three main ones are protons and neutrons , which are found in the nucleus or core of the atom, and electrons , which exist outside of the nucleus. Refer to the Gumdrop Atoms activity to illustrate the anatomy of an atom to give students a better understanding of how these subatomoic particles interact. Physicists have recently divided atoms into even smaller subatomic particles such as fermions quarks, leptons, neutrinos, electrons and bosons gluons, photons, gravitrons.

It is difficult if not impossible to determine the physical properties of something based on the number or quarks and leptons it contains.

The things we see in our world water, wood, metal, skin, teeth are better understood and organized by using the number of protons, neutrons and electrons their atoms and molecules contain. Fun Fact: If we drew the atom to scale and made protons and neutrons a centimeter in diameter, then the electrons would be less than the diameter of a hair and the entire atom's diameter would be greater than the length of thirty football fields!

In fact, Watch this activity on YouTube. So, what is the stuff that is all around us? Answer: Matter Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. The basic building blocks that make up matter are called atoms. What are the different particles found in atoms? Answer: electrons, protons and neutrons Where are they found? Answer: Protons and neutrons are found in the nucleus, and electrons are found in shells around the outside of the nucleus. Who remembers what a molecule is?

Answer: A molecule is the smallest part of a substance that still has all the properties of that substance; when two or more atoms bond, or stick together, they form a molecule. The atom still has many mysteries to discover. In the last years, we have learned new things about how an atom behaves, but there is still so much more to learn. When your parents were growing up, they did not have some of the technology we have today.

Advancements made in particle technologies, such as the use of lasers, have occurred because engineers have used the atomic discoveries of scientists to create devices that make our lives better and advance human society. Lasers are used in industry, medicine, military and even many consumer products, such as computers and DVD players. Carbon is present in all life : All living things contain carbon in some form, and carbon is the primary component of macromolecules, including proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and carbohydrates.

In its metabolism of food and respiration, an animal consumes glucose C 6 H 12 O 6 , which combines with oxygen O 2 to produce carbon dioxide CO 2 , water H 2 O , and energy, which is given off as heat. The animal has no need for the carbon dioxide and releases it into the atmosphere.

A plant, on the other hand, uses the opposite reaction of an animal through photosynthesis. It intakes carbon dioxide, water, and energy from sunlight to make its own glucose and oxygen gas. The glucose is used for chemical energy, which the plant metabolizes in a similar way to an animal. The plant then emits the remaining oxygen into the environment. Cells are made of many complex molecules called macromolecules, which include proteins, nucleic acids RNA and DNA , carbohydrates, and lipids.

The macromolecules are a subset of organic molecules any carbon-containing liquid, solid, or gas that are especially important for life.

The fundamental component for all of these macromolecules is carbon. Individual carbon atoms have an incomplete outermost electron shell. With an atomic number of 6 six electrons and six protons , the first two electrons fill the inner shell, leaving four in the second shell.

Therefore, carbon atoms can form four covalent bonds with other atoms to satisfy the octet rule. The methane molecule provides an example: it has the chemical formula CH 4.

Each of its four hydrogen atoms forms a single covalent bond with the carbon atom by sharing a pair of electrons. This results in a filled outermost shell. Structure of Methane : Methane has a tetrahedral geometry, with each of the four hydrogen atoms spaced Hydrocarbons are important molecules that can form chains and rings due to the bonding patterns of carbon atoms. Hydrocarbons are organic molecules consisting entirely of carbon and hydrogen, such as methane CH 4.

Hydrocarbons are often used as fuels: the propane in a gas grill or the butane in a lighter. The many covalent bonds between the atoms in hydrocarbons store a great amount of energy, which is released when these molecules are burned oxidized.

Methane, an excellent fuel, is the simplest hydrocarbon molecule, with a central carbon atom bonded to four different hydrogen atoms. The geometry of the methane molecule, where the atoms reside in three dimensions, is determined by the shape of its electron orbitals. The carbon and the four hydrogen atoms form a shape known as a tetrahedron, with four triangular faces; for this reason, methane is described as having tetrahedral geometry. Methane : Methane has a tetrahedral geometry, with each of the four hydrogen atoms spaced As the backbone of the large molecules of living things, hydrocarbons may exist as linear carbon chains, carbon rings, or combinations of both.

Furthermore, individual carbon-to-carbon bonds may be single, double, or triple covalent bonds; each type of bond affects the geometry of the molecule in a specific way. This three-dimensional shape or conformation of the large molecules of life macromolecules is critical to how they function.

Hydrocarbon chains are formed by successive bonds between carbon atoms and may be branched or unbranched. The overall geometry of the molecule is altered by the different geometries of single, double, and triple covalent bonds.

The hydrocarbons ethane, ethene, and ethyne serve as examples of how different carbon-to-carbon bonds affect the geometry of the molecule. Thus, propane, propene, and propyne follow the same pattern with three carbon molecules, butane, butene, and butyne for four carbon molecules, and so on.

Double and triple bonds change the geometry of the molecule: single bonds allow rotation along the axis of the bond, whereas double bonds lead to a planar configuration and triple bonds to a linear one. These geometries have a significant impact on the shape a particular molecule can assume. Hydrocarbon Chains : When carbon forms single bonds with other atoms, the shape is tetrahedral. When two carbon atoms form a double bond, the shape is planar, or flat.

Single bonds, like those found in ethane, are able to rotate. Double bonds, like those found in ethene cannot rotate, so the atoms on either side are locked in place. The hydrocarbons discussed so far have been aliphatic hydrocarbons, which consist of linear chains of carbon atoms. Another type of hydrocarbon, aromatic hydrocarbons, consists of closed rings of carbon atoms. Ring structures are found in hydrocarbons, sometimes with the presence of double bonds, which can be seen by comparing the structure of cyclohexane to benzene.

The benzene ring is present in many biological molecules including some amino acids and most steroids, which includes cholesterol and the hormones estrogen and testosterone. The benzene ring is also found in the herbicide 2,4-D. Benzene is a natural component of crude oil and has been classified as a carcinogen.

Some hydrocarbons have both aliphatic and aromatic portions; beta-carotene is an example of such a hydrocarbon. Researchers have also exploited these weak interlayer bonds in graphite substrates that can be easily cleaned by removing the top layer with a piece of sticky tape.

Thanks to the curiosity of Andre Geim and Kostya Novoselov in their legendary Friday night experiments on these discarded bits of sticky tape, the phenomenal properties of a single or very few layers of carbon — now known as graphene — have been keeping researchers and funders busy for over a decade since, and will likely continue to do so for decades to come. Even before the discovery of graphene by Geim and Novoselov at the University of Manchester in , studies of carbon nanotubes — discovered in by Sumio Iijima — had given a glimpse of the kind of mechanical and electronic properties that emerge from a single layer of carbon.

One of the attributes of graphene that has excited researchers recently is the way the properties of materials comprising more than one layer of graphene can be tuned by the presence of other 2D materials, and even by the angle or twist between graphene layers themselves.

And I would bet my hat that there is more to discover in other forms of nanocarbon in the future. So we literally live, eat and breathe carbon. It feeds our industries, inspires our labs, and is the cause and potential solution to some of the greatest challenges facing the planet. Carbon is so ubiquitous across living organisms that radioactive measurements of the carbon composition can be used to date them — so carbon owns time too.

Be it work, rest or play there is nothing you can do that carbon does not influence, govern or facilitate. Like it or not, carbon is King of the Elements. Contact us at pwld ioppublishing. Close search menu Submit search Type to search. Topics Astronomy and space Atomic and molecular Biophysics and bioengineering Condensed matter Culture, history and society Environment and energy Instrumentation and measurement Materials Mathematics and computation Medical physics Optics and photonics Particle and nuclear Quantum.

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