Carbon
The backbone of all known organic life and chemistry.
Inside the Carbon atom
Switch between Bohr and Quantum Cloud modes to compare a simple teaching model with a more realistic probability-based view, and follow the guided tour to explore the Carbon atom step by step.
Electron configuration
[He] 2s2 2p2
A neutral Carbon atom has 6 electrons (equal to its proton count). Choosing a different isotope above changes only the neutron count.
Shell distribution
Electrons fill inner shells before outer ones; the outermost (valence) shell drives the element's chemistry.
Physical & atomic properties
- State (room temp)
- Solid
- Melting point
- 3823 K (3550 °C)
- Boiling point
- 4098 K (3825 °C)
- Density
- 2.267 g/cm³
- Electronegativity
- 2.55 Pauling
- Atomic radius
- 70 pm
- 1st ionization energy
- 1087 kJ/mol
- Category
- Reactive nonmetals
Discovery & naming
- Discovered
- Antiquity
- Discovered by
- Known since antiquity
- Origin of name
- Latin 'carbo', meaning coal.
Notable uses
The basis of all organic chemistry, steelmaking, and diamonds.
Where Carbon comes from
Stellar fusion and dying stars
Assembled from three helium nuclei by the triple-alpha process, then released by stellar winds and explosions.
Simplified origin map — many elements form through more than one astrophysical pathway.
Summary
- Atomic number
- 6
- Atomic mass
- 12.011
- Category
- Reactive nonmetals
- Group · Period
- 14 · 2
- Block
- p-block
- Shells
- 2 · 4