CARBON'S AMAZING VERSATILITY

      Carbon is a non-metal in group IV of the Periodic Table. It forms covalent compounds. The uniqueness of carbon lies in the different ways in which it can form bonds. This shows itself even in the element itself. Carbon exists in several different forms. Two of the forms we have met earlier: diamond and graphite. A third form, the fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, have been discovered relatively recently and their exploitation is one of the major features of the exciting new area of research referred to as nanotechnology.
      The ring structures that carbon can form have been highlighted recently in the revolutionary images of pentacene. The bonding in this hydrocarbon molecule has been observed electronically using an atomic force microscope. This microscope is able to probe structures at an atomic level. The images produced are the first to show the bonds in a molecule. It is even possible to see the bonds between the outer carbon atoms atoms and the hydrogen atoms attached to them. This image joins the others iconic visualisations of the atomic world produced by this microscope technology, including the 'IBM logo'.
      The remarkable versatility and complexity of the structures that carbon is able to form is the very basis of the different forms of life here on Earth.

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