Carbon (from Latin: carbo "coal") is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6.

As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalentmaking fourelectrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. There are three naturally occurring isotopes, with 12C and 13C being stable, while 14C is radioactive, decaying with a halflife of about 5,730 years.[11] Carbon is one of the few elements known since antiquity.[12] There are several allotropes of carbon of which the best known are graphite, diamond, and amorphous carbon.[13] The physical properties of carbon vary widely with the allotropic form. For example, diamond is highly transparent, while graphite is opaque and black. Diamond is the hardest naturally-occurring material known, while graphite is soft enough to form a streak on paper (hence its name, from the Greek word "" which means "to write"). Diamond has a very low electrical conductivity, while graphite is a very good conductor. Under normal conditions, diamond, carbon nanotubeand graphene have the highest thermal conductivities of all known materials. All carbon allotropes are solids under normal conditions with graphite being the most thermodynamically stable form. They are chemically resistant and require high temperature to react even with oxygen. The most common oxidation state of carbon in inorganic compounds is +4, while +2 is found in carbon monoxide and other transition metal carbonyl complexes. The largest sources of inorganic carbon are limestones, dolomites and carbon dioxide, but significant quantities occur in organic deposits of coal, peat, oil and methane clathrates. Carbon forms more compounds than any other element, with almost ten million pure organic compounds described to date, which in turn are a tiny fraction of such compounds that are theoretically possible under standard conditions.[14] Carbon is the 15th most abundant element in the Earth's crust, and the fourth most abundant element in the universe by mass after hydrogen, helium, and oxygen. It is present in all known life forms, and in the human body carbon is the second most abundant element by mass (about 18.5%) after oxygen.[15] This abundance, together with the unique diversity of organic compounds and their unusual polymer-forming ability at the temperatures commonly encountered on Earth, make this element the chemical basis of all known life.

Discovery

Egyptians and Sumerians

[1]

(3750 BC)

Carbon-14 is produced in the upper layers of the troposphere and the stratosphere by thermal neutrons absorbed by nitrogen atoms. When cosmic rays enter the atmosphere, they undergo various transformations, including the production of neutrons. The resulting neutrons (1n) participate in the following reaction: 1n + 14N 14C + 1p The highest rate of carbon-14 production takes place at altitudes of 9 to 15 km (30,000 to 50,000 ft) and at high geomagnetic latitudes, but the carbon-14 readily mixes and becomes evenly distributed throughout the atmosphere and reacts with oxygen to form radioactive carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide also dissolves in water and thus permeates the oceans.

Carbon-14 then goes through radioactive beta decay. By emitting an electron and an electron antineutrino, carbon-14 (half-life of 5730 years) decays into the stable (non-radioactive) isotope nitrogen-14. The inventory of carbon-14 in Earth's biosphere is about 300 megacuries (11 EBq), of which most is in the oceans. As of 2008, the rate of carbon-14 production was not known - while the reaction can be modelled or the current concentrations and the global carbon budget can be used to backtrack, attempts to measure production had not agreed with these models. Production rates vary because of changes to the cosmic ray flux incident, such as supernovae, and due to variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The latter can create significant variations in carbon-14 production rates, although the changes of the carbon cycle can make these effects difficult to tease out.

Extraction using carbon

Metals such as zinc, iron and copper are present in ores as their oxides. Each of these oxides is heated with carbon to obtain the metal. The metal oxide loses oxygen, and is therefore reduced. The carbon gains oxygen, and is therefore oxidised. Using iron as an example: iron oxide + carbon iron + carbon dioxide 2Fe2O3(s) + 3C(s) 4Fe(l) + 3CO2(g) The source of carbon for this reduction is coke, obtained by heating coal in the absence of oxygen. Note that the iron is liquid when it is formed, due to the very high temperature at which the reaction takes place. Some metals, such as aluminium, are so reactive that their oxides cannot be reduced by carbon.

Physical Properties of Carbon?

Carbon can change it's form so it's properties are not constant. But some basic properties of carbon are that it's melting point is 3500C and it's boiling point is 4827C.

Chemical Properties of Carbon Compounds

Coal and petroleum are the fossils fuels. Carbon compounds undergo different types of chemical reactions. All carbon compounds react with oxygen to produce heat and light along with carbon dioxide andwater. This reaction of carbon with oxygen is calledcombustion. Carbon Compound + Oxygen

Aliphatic compounds on combustion produce a non-sooty flame. for example, alcohol burns with a blue flame and does not produce any soot. Aromatic compounds on combustion produce sooty flame. For example, naphthalene andcamphor burn with a yellow flame and produce soot. Alcohols undergo oxidation in presence of oxidising agents like alkaline potassium permanganate or acidified potassium dichromate to form carboxylic acids. For example, ethyl alcohol on oxidation with alkaline potassium permanganate or acidified potassium dichromate gives acetic acid.

Alloy
An alloy is a mixture or solid solution composed of metals. An alloy will contain one or more of the three: a solid solution of the elements (a single phase); a mixture of metallic phases (two or more solutions); an intermetallic compound with no distinct boundary between the phases. Solid solution alloys give a single solid phase microstructure, while partial solutions give two or more phases that may or may not be homogeneous in distribution, depending on the thermal (heat treatment) history of the material. An intermetallic compound will have another alloy or pure metal embedded within another pure metal. Alloys are used in some applications as their properties are superior to those of the pure component elements for those applications. Examples of alloys aresolder, brass, pewter, phosphor bronze and amalgam. The alloy constituents are usually measured by mass. Alloys are usually classified as substitutional or interstitial alloys, depending on the atomicarrangement that forms the alloy. They can be further classified as homogeneous (consisting of a single phase), or heterogeneous (consisting of two or more phases) or intermetallic (where there is no distinct boundary between phases).
[1]

Introduction
An alloy is a mixture of either pure or fairly pure chemical elements, which forms an impure substance (admixture) that retains the characteristics of a metal. An alloy is distinctive from an impure metal, such as wrought iron, in that, with an alloy, the added impurities are usually desirable and will typically have some useful benefit. Alloys are made by mixing two or more elements; at least one of which being a metal. This is usually called the primary metal or the base metal, and the name of this metal may also be the name of the alloy. The other constituents may or may not be metals but, when mixed with the molten base, they will be soluble, dissolving into the mixture. When the alloy cools and solidifies (crystallizes), its mechanical properties will often be quite different from those of its individual constituents. A metal that is normally very soft and malleable, such as aluminium, can be altered by alloying it with another soft metal, like copper. Although both metals are very soft and ductile, the resulting aluminium alloy will be much harder and stronger. Adding a small amount of non-metallic carbon to iron produces an alloy calledsteel. Due to its very-high strength and toughness (which is much higher than pure iron), and its ability to be greatly altered by heat treatment, steel is one of the most common alloys in modern use. By adding chromium to steel, its resistance to corrosion can be enhanced, creating stainless steel, while addingsilicon will alter its electrical characteristics, producing silicon steel.

Terminology
The term alloy is used to describe a mixture of atoms in which the primary constituent is a metal. The primary metal is called the base, the matrix, or thesolvent. The secondary constituents are often called solutes. If there is a mixture of only two types of atoms, not counting impurities, such as a copper-

nickel alloy, then it is called a binary alloy. If there are three types of atoms forming the mixture, such as iron, nickel and chromium, then it is called aternary alloy. An alloy with four constituents is a quaternary alloy, while a five-part alloy is termed a quinary alloy. Because the percentage of each constituent can be varied, with any mixture the entire range of possible variations is called a system. In this respect, all of the various forms of an alloy containing only two constituents, like iron and carbon, is called a binary system, while all of the alloy combinations possible with a ternary alloy, such as alloys of iron, carbon and [2] chromium, is called a ternary system.