Question

Write a note on carbon compounds in everyday life.

Answer 1

Hint: As we know, carbon is a very important element on the earth. They are basically the building blocks on this planet. Here, in this, we will study the uses of the carbon compounds in our day to day life.

Complete step-by-step answer:
Before studying its uses in our day to day life, let’s study the Carbon element first. Carbon is a non-metallic element that is present in the group $ - 14 $ in the periodic table. Its atomic number is $ (Z) = 6 $ , atomic weight $ (A) = 12 $ . It’s an element with $ [He]2{s^2}2{p^2} $ electronic configuration. Carbon is written as $ C $ in the periodic table as it’s a symbol.

Now, since we know about carbon elements, let’s study the uses of this in our everyday life.
All the organic compounds are composed of carbon. Almost everything around us is made of carbon- the clothes we wear, the computer or mobile screen we see, the food which we eat etc.
i) Carbon dioxide $ (C{O_2}) $ - this is composed of carbon and it is present in air and water, both. It is produced by plants with the help of photosynthesis. Also, we release carbon dioxide.
ii) Sugar- we use sugar as a sweetening agent in cooking. The sugar which we use has IUPAC name as sucrose whose chemical formula is $ {C_{12}}{H_{22}}{O_{11}} $ .
iii) Detergent- it is used as a cleansing agent for cleaning clothes. It has similarity with soaps. The general structure of the detergent can be written as $ RS{O_4}^ - N{a^ + } $ where $ R $ stands for a long chain of alkyl groups.
iv) Aspirin- It is a medicine that is used as a painkiller for headaches, period pain and also for toothache, etc. its IUPAC name is acetylsalicylic acid whose chemical formula is $ {C_9}{H_8}{O_4} $.
v) Soap- soap is also used as a cleansing agent- for bathing or for washing clothes, etc. It contains esters. Soaps are basically a long chain of fatty acids. For example Sodium stearate.
vi) Graphite: The pencil which we use consists of graphite which is composed of carbon element only.

Note: As we have seen above carbon is a very important element that is present in a large number of compounds and in all organic compounds. They are available in various forms such as hydrocarbons. They have various applications. We have just seen a few applications of carbon elements.