Question

(a) What are the two properties of carbon which lead to the huge number of carbon compounds we see around us ?

(b) How does carbon reacts with oxygen?

(c) Differentiate between diamond and graphite.

Answer 1

(a)

• Tetravalency
• Catenation.

(b) Carbon combines with oxygen to form its oxides like carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide $\left(C{O}_2\right)$ with the evolution of heat.

$2C_{\left(S\right)}+{2O_2}_{\left(g\right)}\to 2C{O_2}_{\left(g\right)}+Heat$

$C_{\left(S\right)}+O_{2\left(g\right)}\to C{O}_{2(g)}+Heat$

(c)

Diamond	Graphite
Each carbon has four covalent bonds.	Each carbon has three covalent bonds.
Hard, heavy and transparent.	Soft, slippery to touch and opaque.
It has tetrahedral units linked in three dimensions.	It has planar layers of hexagon units.
It is a non-conductor of heat and electricity.	It is a conductor of heat and electricity.