why is carbon important? and what is carbon?

Question

please help!!

Answer 1

Carbon is the basic building block of all organic compounds because of its abundance and peculiar bonding behavior....it can bond to other atoms like itself to form incredibly complex chains, form rings with itself, and with a wide variety of other compounds in nearly infinite combinations.

Answer 2

As the free element it forms allotropes from differing kinds of carbon-carbon bonds, such as graphite, coal, and diamond. Recently discovered geometric forms include fullerenes and nanotubes. Because of their high strength-to-weight ratio, it is hoped that many of these carbon compounds will soon be practical for use in advanced structural composite materials.

Not only can carbon also bond with itself, but it can also form chains with a wide variety of other elements, forming nearly ten million known compounds.

Carbon-containing polymers, often with oxygen and nitrogen atoms included at regular intervals in the main polymer chain, form the basis of nearly all industrial commercial plastics.

Carbon occurs in all organic life and is the basis of organic chemistry. When united with oxygen, carbon forms carbon dioxide, which is the main carbon source for plant growth. When united with hydrogen, it forms various flammable compounds called hydrocarbons which are essential to industry in the form of fossil fuels, and also other important living plant components like carotenoids and terpenes. When combined with oxygen and hydrogen, carbon can form many groups of important biological compounds including sugars, celluloses, lignans, chitins, alcohols, fats, and aromatic esters. With nitrogen it forms alkaloids, and with the addition of sulfur also it forms antibiotics, amino acids and proteins. With the addition of phosphorus to these other elements, it forms DNA and RNA, the chemical codes of life.

Answer 3

Carbon - element, #6 on periodic table
- basic building block of all biochemical molecules - lipids, carbohydrates, cellular membranes

Answer 4

Basic building block of all forms of life.