Table 1: General Property of Carbon

1. solid

2. non-metal

3. No

4. Yes (example: Methane)

Explain:

Elements forming ionic compounds achieve by either gaining or losing electrons from the outermost
shell to attain noble gas configuration. In the case of carbon, its atomic number is 6 and it has 4 valence
electrons in its outermost shell. This is how it goes if gaining or losing four electrons is its way to attain
noble gas configuration.

1) It could gain C4- anion but it would be difficult for the nucleus with 6 protons to hold on to ten
electrons, that is 4 extra electrons.

2) It could lose four electrons forming C4+ cation but it would require a large amount of energy behind a
carbon cation with six protons in its nucleus holding on to just 2 electrons.

Sharing its valence electrons with other atoms of carbon or with atoms of other elements can overcome
this problem. By sharing electrons, it can form molecular compounds.

For example, CH4

We know that the valence of hydrogen is 1 and carbon is 4. In order to achieve a noble gas
configuration, carbon shares these electrons with four atoms of hydrogen. The bonds formed by the
sharing of an electron pair between two atoms are called covalent bond. Covalent bonds are very strong
within the molecule but intermolecular forces are small. This gives rise to the low melting and boiling
point of these compounds since the electrons are shared between atoms and no charged particles are
formed.

5. 6

6. 12.0107 amu

7. 4

8. 2.55 amu

Table 2:

Answer:
Carbon is NOT SOLUBLE to all solvents tested

Obtaining Carbon

1. The sucrose melted as it underwent the process of heating and later on turned into black. After being
heated, there is already a combustion reaction in which the sucrose breaks down and the molecules
decomposed into glucose and fructose and then lose water and then became isomers and polymerize,
which as a result, it was hardened or became solid.

2. C12H22O11 + 12 O2  12CO2 + 11 H20

pH of Carbon

before: 5

after: 4

a. What are your observations?

From pH 5, it became pH 4 after bubbles were blown into the water. The pink litmus paper, when
dropped, remained the same in color and the blue litmus paper turned to pink which falls under acidic
condition.

b. Is there any difference between the initial measurement and the final measurement? How can you
account the difference?

Yes, there is only a difference of ph 1 (from ph 5 to pH 4). The pH level after is smaller than before since
when CO2 reacts with water (H2O), the carbonic acid forms which increases the acidity of the water. It
was accounted through the use of pH paper and litmus paper to measure the pH level of the water
before and after.

c. balanced equation of reaction

CO2 + H2O  H2CO3

Why Carbon is so versatile? (This is only the thought of our answer)

Tetravalency and Catenation

It is because of these properties that the element has the capacity to

form a large number of compounds. Not only is carbon the fourth most
abundant element in the universe, it has so far more than three million
compounds know to us till date.