Carbon has 4 electrons in its outermost shell and requires 4 more electrons to attain a noble gas electronic configuration. It cannot form a C4+ ion, as the removal of 4 valence electrons requires a huge amount of energy. The C4+ ion thus formed will have 6 protons and 2 electrons, which will make it highly unstable. Carbon cannot form a C4− ion, as its nucleus with 6 protons cannot hold 10 electrons due to inter electronic repulsion. So, carbon achieves a noble gas electronic configuration only by sharing its 4 valence electrons with other elements. Thus, it forms compounds mainly by covalent bonds.
The two main reasons for carbon forming a large number of compounds are as follows:
(a) Catenation: It is the ability of carbon to form bonds with other carbon atoms; this results in compounds having long branched chains and rings.
(b) Tetravalency: Carbon has 4 valence electrons, so it is capable of forming covalent bonds with 4 other atoms.
Carbon forms strong bonds with most other elements. This is because the small atomic size of carbon enables its nucleus to strongly hold on to the shared pairs of electrons.
Carbon has 4 electrons in its outermost shell and requires 4 more electrons to attain a noble gas electronic configuration. It cannot form a C4+ ion, as the removal of 4 valence electrons requires a huge amount of energy. The C4+ ion thus formed will have 6 protons and 2 electrons, which will make it highly unstable. Carbon cannot form a C4− ion, as its nucleus with 6 protons cannot hold 10 electrons due to inter electronic repulsion. So, carbon achieves a noble gas electronic configuration only by sharing its 4 valence electrons with other elements. Thus, it forms compounds mainly by covalent bonds.
The two main reasons for carbon forming a large number of compounds are as follows:
(a) Catenation: It is the ability of carbon to form bonds with other carbon atoms; this results in compounds having long branched chains and rings.
(b) Tetravalency: Carbon has 4 valence electrons, so it is capable of forming covalent bonds with 4 other atoms.
Carbon forms strong bonds with most other elements. This is because the small atomic size of carbon enables its nucleus to strongly hold on to the shared pairs of electrons.
