Page 73 - The Miracle in the Atom

The Second Step On The Path To Matter: Molecules

The Building Block of Life: the "Carbon" Atom
Carbon is the most vital element for living beings, because
all living organisms are constructed from compounds of carbon.
Numerous pages would not be enough to describe the proper-
ties of the carbon atom, which is extremely important for our
existence. Nor has the science of chemistry yet been able to Carbon
atom
discover all of its properties. Here we will mention only a few of
the very important properties of carbon.
Structures as diverse as the cell membrane, the horns of an elk, the
trunk of a redwood, the lens of the eye, and the venom of a spider are com-
posed of carbon compounds. Carbon, combined with hydrogen, oxygen,
and nitrogen in many different quantities and geometric arrangements,
results in a vast assortment of materials with vastly different pro-
perties. So, what is the reason for carbon's ability to form appro-
ximately 1.7 million compounds?
One of the most significant properties of car-
O 49.5%
bon is its ability to form chains very easily by li-
ning carbon atoms up one after another. The
shortest carbon chain is made up of two carbon

Si 25.8% atoms. Despite the unavailability of an exact fi-
gure on the number of carbons that make
up the longest carbon chain, we can talk
about a chain with seventy links. If we
consider that the atom that can
Al 7.6%
form the longest chain after the
carbon atom is the silicon
atom forming six links,
the exceptional positi-
on of the carbon
atom will be bet-
ter understo-
od. 28
The reason for car-
bon's ability to form
chains with so many

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