Carbon

Reactive nonmetal · atomic number 6

612.011CCarbonSolidReactive nonmetal

Carbon (from Latin:carbo "coal") is a chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. On the periodic table, it is the first (row 2) of six elements in column (group) 14, which have in common the composition of their outer electron shell. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds.

Properties of Carbon

Element category	Reactive nonmetal
Atomic number	6
Atomic mass	12.011 u
Phase at STP	Solid
Group	14
Period	2
Block	p
Electron configuration	[He] 2s2 2p2
Electrons per shell	2, 4
Electronegativity (Pauling)	2.55
Melting point	4600 K (4327 °C)
Density	1.821 g/cm3
Discovered by	Ancient Egypt

← Boron · Periodic table · Nitrogen → N

About the reactive nonmetal group

Elements that readily gain or share electrons — the building blocks of water, air, living tissue and most organic chemistry.

Data: Periodic-Table-JSON (CC BY-SA 3.0) · stored statically on our server. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon

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⚛️ Full periodic table

All 118 chemical elements on one interactive, colour-coded table, each linking to a fact file and plain-language summary.

🧪 Reactive nonmetal

11 elements: Elements that readily gain or share electrons — the building blocks of water, air, living tissue and most organic chemistry.

🧪 Noble gas

6 elements: Full outer electron shells make these gases almost inert: they barely react, glow in discharge lamps and are used to create unreactive atmospheres.

🧪 Alkali metal

6 elements: Soft, wildly reactive metals of group 1 — they fizz in water and never occur pure in nature. Lithium, sodium, potassium and friends.

🧪 Alkaline earth metal

6 elements: Reactive group-2 metals a step calmer than the alkalis: magnesium, calcium and the structural and biological workhorses among them.

🧪 Transition metal

35 elements: The dense, strong, catalytic heart of the table — iron, copper, gold, titanium — responsible for most of metallurgy, jewellery and industry.

🧪 Post-transition metal

9 elements: Softer, lower-melting metals beside the transition block — aluminium, tin, lead — abundant in cans, foils, solders and pigments.

🧪 Metalloid

7 elements: In-between elements that behave as semiconductors: silicon, germanium and boron underpin electronics, glass and solar cells.

🧪 Lanthanide

15 elements: The rare-earth “inner transition” metals that give strong permanent magnets, screen phosphors and catalyst polish.

🧪 Actinide

15 elements: Mostly radioactive, heavy metals — several made only in reactors — whose fission powers nuclear energy and weapons.

🧪 Unknown properties

8 elements: Superheavy synthetic elements made atom-by-atom, existing for fractions of a second; their true chemistry is still unmeasured.