PROPERTIES OF COVALENT COMPOUNDS 1.

They are poor conductors of electricity as they cannot furnish ions which are responsible for conduction. 2. They have low melting and boiling points as they have very strong bonds within the molecules but between the molecules they are held by weak forces of attraction. 3. They are soluble in organic solvents (non polar)and insoluble in polar solvents like water. ALLOTROPY It is the phenomenon where an element occurs in 2 or more different forms having similar chemical properties but different physical properties. Allotropes: They are different physical forms of the same element which have same chemical properties but different physical properties. ALLOTROPES OF CARBON 1. Carbon 2. Diamond 3. Fullerenes: have caged structures eg. Buckminster fullerene (C60) Differences in properties Diamond 1. Each carbon atom is bonded to 4 other carbon atoms forming a rigid tetrahedral structure. All four valence electrons are involved in the bonding. 2. It is the hardest naturally occurring substance.(due to compact arrangement) 3. It is a poor conductor of electricity( no free electrons, all valence electrons are involved in bonding) Graphite Each carbon atom is linked to 3 other carbon atoms forming layers of hexagonal units. Only three valence electrons out of the four are involved in bonding It is soft and slippery ( as the layers can slide over one another) It is an excellent conductor of electricity(one electron in each carbon atom is free as only three valence electrons are involved in bonding.)

VERSATILE NATURE OF CARBON Carbon forms very large number of compounds due to:

1. Catenation: Carbon has a unique property of bonding with itself forming long chains of carbon atoms. This self-linking property of carbon is called catenation. C-C-C-C-C-C-C straight chain

C-C-C-C C C

Branched chain

C C C

Closed/ ring chain

2. Tetravalency: Carbon has 4 valence electrons ie. It is tetravalent. The tetravalency of carbon may be satisfied by single, double or triple bonds between the carbon atoms. Carbon may also link with other atoms (mono, di or tetravalent atoms) to satisfy its tetravalency.

Note Compounds of carbon containing carbon and hydrogen as the only elements are known as hydrocarbons Hydrocarbons which contain single bonds between the carbon atoms are called saturated hydrocarbons. Compounds of carbon which contain a double or a triple bond between the carbon atoms are called unsaturated hydrocarbons.

3. Isomerism It is the phenomenon of existence of 2 or more organic compounds having same molecular formula but different structural formula.

4. Small size of carbon atom this enable carbon to form strong covalent bonds with 4 other atoms( of carbon or other elements) making the carbon compounds stable.