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Carbon (from Latin carbo 'coal') is a chemical element; it has symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to ...
Carbon compounds are defined as chemical substances containing carbon. [1] [2] More compounds of carbon exist than any other chemical element except for hydrogen. Organic carbon compounds are far more numerous than inorganic carbon compounds. In general bonds of carbon with other elements are covalent bonds.
Carbon atoms bond readily to other carbon atoms; this allows the building of arbitrarily long macromolecules and polymers in a process known as catenation. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] [ 22 ] "What we normally think of as 'life' is based on chains of carbon atoms, with a few other atoms, such as nitrogen or phosphorus", per Stephen Hawking in a 2008 lecture ...
Carbon is one of the few elements that can form long chains of its own atoms, a property called catenation.This coupled with the strength of the carbon–carbon bond gives rise to an enormous number of molecular forms, many of which are important structural elements of life, so carbon compounds have their own field of study: organic chemistry.
The carbon cycle is that part of the biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of Earth.Other major biogeochemical cycles include the nitrogen cycle and the water cycle.
Carbon dioxide is the lasing medium in a carbon-dioxide laser, which is one of the earliest type of lasers. Carbon dioxide can be used as a means of controlling the pH of swimming pools, [141] by continuously adding gas to the water, thus keeping the pH from rising. Among the advantages of this is the avoidance of handling (more hazardous) acids.
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Biological carbon fixation, or сarbon assimilation, is the process by which living organisms convert inorganic carbon (particularly carbon dioxide) to organic compounds. These organic compounds are then used to store energy and as structures for other biomolecules .