Question

What is the unique property of a carbon atom? How is this property helpful to us?

Answer 1

Hint: We know that the carbon can form a large number of organic compounds because of its ability to form long chain bonds with itself and many other metals as well as nonmetals. Carbon has a unique property of direct bonding between atoms of the same element to form long chains, to form branches, or to form close structures.

Complete answer:
Carbon and its compounds burn in the presence of oxygen or air to give carbon dioxide, water vapors, and energy. This process of burning carbon compounds in excess of oxygen to give heat and light is called a combustion reaction. This property is known as catenation. No wonder, it can form an almost infinite number of compounds, most of which are chemically organic in nature. These special properties and behaviour exhibited by carbon, coupled with the fact that it can form an infinite number of compounds led to the emergence of a different branch of chemistry, called organic chemistry. All the carbon compounds which contain just carbon and hydrogen are called hydrocarbons. Isomerism arises from the difference in the structure of the carbon chain which forms the nucleus of the molecule.
We know that isomers are defined as the molecules with the same molecular formula but possess a different arrangement of the atoms in space or different connectivity of atoms. The phenomenon in which the molecules in which the atoms that form the isomers are connected differently is known as structural isomerism. The phenomenon in which the connectivity of atoms is the same in isomers but a different spatial arrangement is stereoisomerism. The most unique property of carbon atoms is its ability to combine itself, atom to atom to form long chains. This property of self-combination is useful to us because it gives rise to an extremely large number of carbon compounds or organic compounds.

Note:
Remember that the carbon due to its capability of having variable oxidation states or coordination numbers makes carbon one of the few elements to have multiple numbers of allotropic forms. Carbon’s ability to catenate is another contributing factor. Thus, it leads to the formation of various allotropes of carbon.