Home > Chemical Elements > Carbon

Overview

Carbon is an extraordinary element. It occurs in more different forms than any other element in the periodic table. The periodic table is a chart that shows how chemical elements are related to each other. More than ten million compounds of carbon are known. No other element, except for hydrogen, occurs in even a fraction of that number of compounds.

As an element, carbon occurs in a striking variety of forms. Coal, soot, and diamonds are all nearly pure forms of carbon. Carbon also occurs in a form, discovered only recently, known as fullerenes or buckyballs. Buckyball carbon holds the promise for opening a whole new field of chemistry (see accompanying sidebar).

Carbon occurs extensively in all living organisms as proteins, fats, carbohydrates (sugars and starches), and nucleic acids.