What characteristics of carbon make possible the existence of ...

Question

What characteristics of carbon make possible the existence of so many different organic compounds?

Accepted Answer

All right. Hi everyone. So this question is asking us which of the following properties of carbon allow for the formation of numerous diverse organic compounds. Here we have five different statements which I will read as we go through this video. But option A says statements one and two are true. Option B says 12 and three. Option C says 23 and five and option D says 13 and four. So let's go ahead and start by analyzing each statement and discussing whether or not it is true. The first statement says that carbon is tetravalent now recall that an atom is considered to be tetravalent if it can form four covalent bonds with other atoms. Now, considering the fact that carbon actually has four valence electrons, this statement is actually true, right? Because those four valence electrons can participate in four covalent bonds to ensure that carbon has a full octet. And so the ability of carbon to form four different bonds allows it to create a wide variety of compounds with a wide variety of different atoms. And this actually plays into statement too because statement two says that it has a high Cain nation ability. No recall it cat a nation refers to the ability of an atom to bond with other atoms of the same type. Right? So when discussing the cation ability of carbon, it's assessing essentially carbon's ability to bond with other carbon atoms. So this statement is actually true as well, right? Because carbon has the very unique ability to connect with other carbon atoms and create very intricate chains and ring structures leading to the diversity that we see in organic compounds. So now statement three says that carbon can form multiple bonds and exhibit isomerism. No recall that isomerism is a phenomenon where compounds can have the same molecular formula, meaning the same amount of different types of atoms but different connectivity. So even though two compounds have the same number of atoms, those atoms can connect in different ways, hence the term isomerism, they would be isomers of each other. Now statement three is actually true as well, right? Because carbon can form double bonds and triple buns which therefore increases the variety of compounds that it can form. And if it in if it can increase the variety of compounds and conform, it can also create isomers with the same number of atoms but different connectivities between them, right? Different structures in and of themselves. The statement three is true. Now statement four on the other hand says that carbon has an atomic number of eight. Now by referencing the periodic table, right, we can see that statement four is actually false because oxygen has an atom, an atomic number of eight, whereas carbon has an atomic number of six and lastly for statement five says that carbon can be found in all metals. Now, this statement is not quite correct, right? Because recall that carbon itself is actually a non metal. So because carbon is a non metal, it cannot be a constituent of all metals like this statement is implied. Now it's true that carbon can be present in certain metal alloys like steel, for example, but it is not a constituent for all medals. So of the five statements here, statements four and five are false, meaning that our final answer is going to be option B in the multiple choice or statements 12 and three and there you have it. So with that being said, thank you so very much for watching and I hope you found this helpful.

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What characteristics of carbon make possible the existence of so many different organic compounds?

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