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Carbon (C), element 6
Carbon (C) is the chemical element with atomic number 6: a nonmetal in group 14, period 2. At 25 °C it is a solid, with an atomic mass of 12.01 u. Its melting point of 3,549.85 °C ranks among the top 3 of the whole table.
Physical and chemical data
| Atomic number | 6 |
|---|---|
| Symbol | C |
| Atomic mass | 12.01 u |
| Density | 2.267 g/cm³ |
| Melting point | 3,549.85 °C (3,823 K) |
| Boiling point | 3,824.85 °C (4,098 K) |
| Electronegativity (Pauling) | 2.55 |
| Electron configuration | [He]2s2 2p2 |
| Atomic radius (van der Waals) | 170 pm |
| Oxidation states | +4, +2, -4 |
| Physical state at 25 °C | solid |
| Family | nonmetal |
| Group and period | 14 / 2 |
| Discoverer and year | known since antiquity |
Humanity has lived with carbon since before chemistry existed as a science: there is no discoverer to record, only millennia of use.
Neighbours on the table
Horizontally, one proton less lands on Boron (Z=5); one more lands on Nitrogen (Z=7). Vertically, group 14 gathers relatives with similar behaviour: Silicon, Germanium, Tin, Lead.
The story behind the name
Carbo is Latin for charcoal, and humanity has lived with it since the first campfire: soot and charcoal are nearly pure carbon. The same atom forms the soft graphite in a pencil and diamond, the hardest natural material known; the difference is only the arrangement. It was Lavoisier who showed, by burning a diamond with a giant lens in 1772, that the gem and the coal are the same substance. All the chemistry of life, from DNA to proteins, hangs on carbon skeletons.
Physical and chemical data: PubChem Periodic Table (NCBI, compiling NIST and IUPAC), public domain, snapshot of 2026-07-10. Temperatures converted from kelvin; historical notes cross checked against classic chemistry references.
Last updated: · Methodology and sources