Generally, carbon compounds are obtained from fossil fuels and then separated and further synthesized into a variety of products for meeting the requirements of industry and daily life, such as vinyl, plastic and so on. The existence of carbon has many forms; there are elemental carbons, such as diamond, graphite; amorphous carbon such as coal; complex organic compounds, such as animals and plants; carbonate, such as marble. The physical and chemical properties of elemental carbon depend on its crystal structure. The high hardness diamond has a different crystal structure from the soft satiny graphite; each of them has their own appearance, density, melting point. In ambient temperature, the chemical properties of elemental carbon are inert, insoluble in water, diluted acid, diluted alkali and organic solvents; at different high temperatures it reacts wi
th oxygen and generates carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide; among the halogen, elemental carbon only directly reacts with fluoride; in heated condition, elemental carbon is easier oxidized by acid; at high temperature, carbon can react with many metals and generated metal carbides. Carbon has reduction property, so it can smelt metal at high temperatures.
Chemical symbol: C
Element atomic weight:12.01
Proton number: 6
Atomic Number: 6
Color and appearance: black (graphite) colorless (diamond) charcoal, activated, carbon, carbon black
State of matter: solid
Melting point: about 3727 ℃ (Diamond 3550 ℃)
Boiling point: about 4827 ℃ (sublimation)