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• Carbon is the most common element in the universe. It bonds easily with a wide range of other atoms and can form almost 10 million known molecules. All life is carbon based and 95% of existing materials contain some carbon.BBC: Carbon The Encyclopedia of Earth: Carbon

• Fast FactsEnvironmentalChemistry.com: [http://environmentalchemistry.com/yogi/periodic/C.html#Overview Elemental Carbon]

  1. Symobol: C
  2. Atomic weight: 12.01115The Encyclopedia of Earth: Carbon
  3. Element number: 6
  4. Electron configuration: 1s2 2s2p2EnvironmentalChemistry.com: Elemental Carbon
  5. Has 6 electrons, 6 neutrons and 6 protons
  6. Present in all known lifeforms

• Radiocarbon Dating

  Because of its abundance and half-life, radioactive carbon can be used to date archaeological and prehistoric artifacts. All carbon has some amount of the radioactive isotope carbon 14. The age of an artifact can be determined by the percent of carbon 14 left. Carbon 14's half-life is approximately 5,730 years. This means that half of the carbon 14 will decay to normal carbon every 5,730 years. Anthropology 3: Chronological Methods 8 - Radiocarbon Dating

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Orbiting Carbon Observatory | Diamond | Organic Chemistry | Periodic Table of Elements | How to Buy Carbon Credits

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