Carbon is a special element because it plays a dominant role in the chemistry of life. ... Carbon has a hexagonal crystal structure, and an electron configuration of 1s 2s p . ... The element carbon has four electrons in its outer shell. Since the outer shell can hold eight electrons, each carbon atom can share electrons with up to four different atoms. ... So much can be said that there is an entire field of chemistry called organic chemistry, which is devoted to these compounds. ...

• Word Count: 822
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2000: Conductive polymers Contents Prize motivation 1 Conductive polymers - a surprising discovery 1 What is electrical conductivity? ... The choice is motivated by the important scientific position that the field has achieved and the consequences in terms of practical applications and of interdisciplinary development between chemistry and physics. ... Natta, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1966). ... Ohm's law is an empirical law, related to irreversible thermodynamics (Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1977), the flow I as a result of a gradient ...

• Word Count: 6720
• Approx Pages: 27
• Grade Level: High School

Six negatively charged electrons surround the carbon atom's nucleus. Carbon has four electrons in its valence shell (outer shell). Since this energy shell can hold eight electrons, each carbon atom can share electrons with up to four different atoms. 1s 2s 2p is the electron configuration for carbon. ... In 1961 the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) uses the isotope carbon-12 as the basis for atomic weights, because carbon-12 is said to have the AMU (atomic mass units) of exactly 12. ...

• Word Count: 1125
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

Through random mutations a population's genes explore the neighboring portions of "design space" (the set of all possible genetic configurations). ... The subsequent retention of new configurations is the product of contingent environmental conditions and the usefulness of certain general capacities, such as vision, locomotion, and intelligence. ...

• Word Count: 7861
• Approx Pages: 31
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate