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There are many oxides of carbon , of which the most common are carbon dioxide (CO 2) and carbon monoxide (CO). Other less known oxides include carbon suboxide (C 3 O 2) and mellitic anhydride (C 12 O 9). [5] There are also numerous unstable or elusive oxides, such as dicarbon monoxide (C 2 O), oxalic anhydride (C 2 O 4), and carbon trioxide (CO 3).
Carbon's abundance, its unique diversity of organic compounds, and its unusual ability to form polymers at the temperatures commonly encountered on Earth, enables this element to serve as a common element of all known life. It is the second most abundant element in the human body by mass (about 18.5%) after oxygen.
Carbon is a key element to all known life. It is in all organic compounds, for example, DNA, steroids, and proteins. [6] Carbon's importance to life is primarily due to its ability to form numerous bonds with other elements. [17] There are 16 kilograms of carbon in a typical 70-kilogram human. [18] Silicon-based life's feasibility is commonly ...
Also acid ionization constant or acidity constant. A quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution expressed as an equilibrium constant for a chemical dissociation reaction in the context of acid-base reactions. It is often given as its base-10 cologarithm, p K a. acid–base extraction A chemical reaction in which chemical species are separated from other acids and bases. acid ...
The range of chemicals studied in organic chemistry includes hydrocarbons (compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen) as well as compounds based on carbon, but also containing other elements, [1] [2] [3] especially oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus (included in many biochemicals) and the halogens.
Different forms of pure carbon, such as diamond, graphite, fullerenes and carbon nanotubes [4] are also excluded because they are simple substances composed of a single element and so not generally considered chemical compounds. The word "organic" in this context does not mean "natural".
Carbon is capable of forming many allotropes (structurally different forms of the same element) due to its valency (tetravalent). Well-known forms of carbon include diamond and graphite. In recent decades, many more allotropes have been discovered and researched, including ball shapes such as buckminsterfullerene and sheets such as graphene.
Carbon's widespread abundance, its ability to form stable bonds with numerous other elements, and its unusual ability to form polymers at the temperatures commonly encountered on Earth enables it to serve as a common element of all known living organisms. In a 2018 study, carbon was found to compose approximately 550 billion tons of all life on ...