What Is the Difference Between Carbon & Graphite?

History of Carbon

• Of the 90 active elements found in nature, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon compose 96 percent of living, or organic, matter. Elemental carbon, however, has the special ability to bind to itself in different ways to produce one of the hardest minerals known to man (the diamond) and one of the softest (graphite). As the 19th most abundant element in Earth's crust, carbon binds with a number of substances to form nearly 10 million carbon compounds, according to University of Denver Professor James B. Calvert.

Carbon Forms

• On the Periodic Table of Elements carbon is classified as a group in a IVA nonmetal family with an atomic number of 6. Pure carbon can be found in nature in the forms of graphite, diamond, charcoal, and soot.

Carbon Cycle

• In the carbon cycle, plants undergo photosynthesis in which they use carbon dioxide, leaving oxygen as an end product. Humans and animals metabolize this oxygen through respiration, resulting in carbon dioxide as an end product.

Carbon Footprint

• Humans accelerate the carbon cycle through the burning of fossil fuels, which releases large amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment.

Graphite

• Graphite is comprised of native carbon and is greasy, dull, dark grey to black in color and softer than a fingernail. It has a density of 2.2.

Graphite Uses

• In addition to its use in pencils, graphite is used in battery cells because it is a good conductor and as a lubricant because of its greasiness.