Question

(a) What is the unique property of carbon atom? How is this property helpful to us?
(b) Explain why, diamond is hard while graphite is soft (though both are made of carbon atoms).

Answer 1

Answer:

1. The most unique property of carbon atom is its ability to combine itself, atom to atom to form long chains. This property of self combination is useful to us because it gives rise to an extremely large number of carbon compounds (or organic compounds).
2. In diamond, each Carbon atom is bonded to 4 other Carbon atoms by sp3 bonds, which form a stiff 3-d network, which makes it a hard crystal. Graphite on the other hand has each Carbon atom bonded to 3 other Carbon atoms by sp2 bonds, which gives it a planar structure. Each Carbon gives one pair of delocalized electrons.

Answer 2

• The most unique property of carbon atom is its ability to combine itself, atom to atom to form long chains. This property of self combination is useful to us because it gives rise to extremely large number of carbon compounds (or organic compounds).

• A diamond crystal is a giant molecule of carbon atoms. Each carbon atom in the diamond crystal is linked to four other carbon atoms by strong covalent bonds. The four surrounding atoms are at four vertices of a regular tetrahedron. This rigid structure of diamond makes it a very hard substance.