The Element Carbon And Its Importance

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dioxide in the air is a compound of carbon and oxygen. Other
compounds containing carbon include minerals such as limestone, and fuels
such as coal and petroleum. Carbon compounds make up the living tissues of
all animals and plants. There are over one million known carbon compounds
(still growing rapidly every year), which is over the sum total of all the
other elements combined. The largest group of these compounds are the ones
composed of carbon and hydrogen. Carbon also forms another series of
compounds, which is classified as inorganic, but is a much smaller number
than the organic compounds. These millions of compounds combine in various
ways to produce an almost unlimited number of carbon-containing substances.
Organic chemistry, which is the name given to the study of compounds made
by and derived from living organisms, is primarily a study of carbon
compounds.
Carbon and its compounds are found widely dispersed in nature. It
is estimated that carbon makes up 0.032% of ...

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