Carbon
Do you really know what it is?
5 Characteristics for Carbon
Occurrence
Isotopes
Formation in stars
Carbon cycle
5 uses for Carbon
1. Dry ice – Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide. It is frozen carbon dioxide with a temperature of -78.5°C and melts into a gaseous rather than liquid form to create the popular smoke effect.
2. Fizzy drinks – When held under pressure carbon dioxide dissolves in water, and it then causes bubbles on your tongue as it forms a carbonic acid as you take a gulp.
3. Carbon dating – The age of fossils and minerals can be found by using carbon-14 which is a radioactive isotope of carbon. This is covered in depth in issue 7 of How It Works.
4. Teeth whitening – Carbon is a key element involved in teeth whitening treatments, found as carbon amide peroxide in both dentist and the counter treatments.
5. Fire extinguishers – A fire extinguisher containing carbon dioxide is mainly used for fighting electrical fires. The carbon goes back into the atmosphere without leaving any harmful fumes.
History of Carbon
Carbon was never discovered it has just been there since early human life. Antoine Lavoisier, the father of chemistry, as he is known, would be the “discoverer” of carbon since he classified it as an element in a textbook he wrote in 1789.