Chemical element · Atomic number 6
Carbon
Carbon in the periodic table: atomic number 6, electron configuration, atomic mass, physical data, oxidation states, media credit and visible sources.
Nonmetal
solid
12.011 u
Documented element sampleDocumented carbon allotropes, including graphite and diamond.
Image credit: James St. John
Auto-oriented, limited to 1600 × 1200 pixels and re-encoded as WebP; the subject was not altered.
Atomic classification
Shell occupancy
Carbon in the Bohr shell model
This shows the electron distribution of the neutral atom in a simplified shell model.
- K · n=1
- 2 electrons
- L · n=2
- 4 electrons
- Electron configuration
- [He]2s2 2p2
- Electrons per shell
- 2 · 4
- Group
- 14
- Period
- 2
- Block
- P
- Element category
- Nonmetal
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Physical and chemical properties
- Atomic mass
- 12.011 u
- Standard state
- solid
- Density
- 2.267 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 3,823 K
- Boiling point
- 4,098 K
- Electronegativity
- 2.55 (Pauling)
- First ionisation energy
- 11.26 eV
- Oxidation states
- +4, +2, -4
- Discovery
- known since antiquity
Safety and periodic classification
Safety
Safe handling cannot be inferred from Carbon's position in the periodic table alone. Laboratory, classroom and disposal decisions must follow the documentation for the exact material and its safety data sheet.
Position and comparison
Carbon is in period 2, group 14 and the P block. Its direct neighbours by atomic number are Boron and Nitrogen. The recorded Pauling electronegativity is 2.55. Periodic trends are compared only through the separately sourced neighbouring values.
Sources and scope
PubChem attributes element data to sources including IUPAC, NIST and IAEA. Quanta stores the referenced snapshot locally and leaves unknown values unavailable.