Carbon-Carbon Tetravalency at Excited and Ground State
Carbon is found in abundance in nature. It is a part of all living things and quite a few non-living things as well. It is so amazing that an element can be so versatile. Dark black coal is made up of carbon and another substance with opposite properties- Diamond – a shining, non-combustible substance that is also composed of carbon! Thus, it can be glittering and hard, soft and flaky, combustible and non-combustible, and even can look like a soccer ball. You will be amazed to know that nearly 20% of your body is carbon. All organic substances in nature, living things, or non-living organic things are composed of carbon. This is the reason carbon is the 4th most abundant element in the universe by mass.
Antoine Lavoisier was the first scientist who listed carbon as an element in his textbook –“Traite Elementaire de Chimie”. Through his experiment, he showed that diamond is basically made of carbon. The word carbon is derived from the Latin word “carbo'' which means coal.
Carbon is placed in the 2nd period and 14th group of the periodic table. It is represented by the symbol C and its atomic number is 6. It possesses properties such as tetravalency and catenation, due to this it can for long-chain and ring compounds. In this article, we will discuss the tetravalency of carbon in detail.
Tetravalency of Carbon
As carbon possesses atomic number 6, it means that the carbon atom has a total of 6 electrons. In simple ways, its electronic configuration can be written as 2,4. It means it has 4 electrons in the outermost shell. Carbon obeys the octet rule and forms 4 covalent bonds with other atoms to get a stable electronic configuration. Thus, carbon is tetravalent (It means the valency of carbon is 4.) and can form 4 covalent bonds with not only other atoms but other carbon atoms as well. This is called tetravalency of carbon. It is a unique property of carbon as it forms very strong covalent bonds which makes carbon compounds exceptionally stable in nature. The ability of carbon to form covalent bonds with other carbon atoms is called catenation. Due to this property carbon can form long straight, branched, and cyclic chains. Carbon can form single, double, and triple covalent bonds with other carbon atoms.
If you see the electronic configuration of carbon atom in detail then you will find that at ground state electronic configuration of carbon is – 1s2, 2s2, 2p2
Carbon at Ground State (Electronic Configuration)
The above electronic configuration of carbon shows that carbon has only 2 unpaired electrons. So, it can only form 2 bonds in its ground state. Although we know carbon forms 4 covalent bonds. Here the concept of excited state comes. When carbon atom gets excited it shows the following electronic configuration – 1s2, 2s1, 2p3
Carbon in Excited State (Electronic Configuration)
Now as we can see above that carbon has 4 unpaired electrons in its excited state so it can form 4 covalent bonds with other atoms and this property of carbon is called tetravalency of carbon.
FAQs on Tetravalency of Carbon
1. What makes Carbon a tetravalent element?
The atomic number of Carbon is 6, which means that its electronic configuration is – 1s2, 2s2, 2p2. Now, Carbon needs 4 more electrons in its outermost cell, which shows that the valency of Carbon is - 4, and thus, it makes Carbon a tetravalent element of the periodic table in Chemistry. In another sense, because Carbon has 4 electrons in the outermost cell, and it needs 4 more electrons to reach the nearest inert gas structure as per the periodic table, therefore, based on the valence electrons we consider Carbon as a tetravalent element.
2. What are some other examples of tetravalency?
Since we know tetravalent elements are those elements that have 4 electrons in their outermost cell, therefore, any element that has 4 elements will be called a tetravalent element. As per the periodic table, group 14 or Carbon group atoms show tetravalency as per their electronic configuration. Some other elements that show tetravalency are - Silicon (Si), Germanium (Ge), Tin (Sn), Lead (Pb), and Flerovium (Fl).
3. Is Carbon a stable element of the periodic table?
Yes, Carbon is a stable element of the periodic table by its nature and properties. It even shows high affinity when it comes to making bonds with other elements, or even with other atoms of Carbon (called Catenation). Carbon mostly makes covalent or sharing bonds, and is found abundantly in nature in different states.
4. Is Carbon solid, liquid, or gas in its normal phase?
Carbon is generally found in its solid phase in nature. It has different allotropes present as described by the scientists such as - Diamond and Graphite. Coal is also an amorphous allotrope of Carbon. Moreover, allotropy is the property of chemical elements when their physical state remains the same but their forms are different due to molecular composition. Same as Diamond & Graphite, C60 (Buckminsterfullerene), C540 (Fullerite), and C70 (Fullerene) are some other allotropes of Carbon.
5. How the tetravalency of Carbon helps it in making bonds with other elements?
Every element in the periodic table has different properties. Although, some of the properties of elements belonging to the same group and rows, match other elements of the same group of rows, of the periodic table. Carbon, being a tetravalent element of group 14, therefore, has 4 atoms in the outermost cell to make bonds with other elements. Due to its tetravalency, Carbon normally makes 4 bonds with other elements. The Tetravalency of Carbon supports it in maintaining high affinity when it comes to making bonds, especially covalent or sharing bonds.