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Quiz about Carbon Incestuous and Promiscuous

Carbon: Incestuous and Promiscuous Quiz

One of my favorite chemistry professors called carbon incestuous and promiscuous because it combines with itself and everything else. How much do you know about this element?

A multiple-choice quiz by drbabe. Estimated time: 4 mins.

Author
drbabe

Time
4 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
331,106

Updated
Jul 23 22

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
8 / 10

Plays
1790

Awards
Top 20% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. There are four allotropes of carbon. One is famous for its hardness. In this form of carbon, each carbon bonds with four others. What is this allotrope commonly known as? Hint

corundum

ruby

graphite

diamond

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Question 2 of 10

2. Isotopes of carbon are used to determine when a living thing died. The ratio of what two isotopes are used in carbon dating? Hint

carbon-12 and carbon-13

carbon-6 and carbon-7

carbon-13 and carbon-14

carbon-12 and carbon-14

3. Thin "whiskers" of carbon are imbedded in an epoxy to produce a light-weight material used in sporting equipment and in aerospace applications. What is the term for this combination of materials? Hint

titanium

graphite

diamond

carbon-fiber composite

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. The name carbon comes from the Latin word carbo. What does carbo mean? Hint

carbohydrate

charcoal

carbonate

spaghetti and white bread

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Question 5 of 10

5. Another allotrope of carbon has a structure composed of sheets of covalently-bonded carbon, held together with weaker bonds. What is this very common form of carbon called? Hint

lead

graphite

buckyballs

soot

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Question 6 of 10

6. There is more than one oxidation state for carbon. Which is not a possible one of them? Hint

C+6

C-4

C+4

C+2

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Question 7 of 10

7. How abundant, by mass, is carbon in the universe? Hint

Most abundant

Most abundant after hydrogen and stupidity

Very rare

Fourth most abundant

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Question 8 of 10

8. What is the branch of chemistry that is concerned with the combination of carbon with hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen? Hint

analytical chemistry

organic chemistry

inorganic chemistry

physical chemistry

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Question 9 of 10

9. Another form of carbon is amorphous carbon. What is a common name for this form of carbon? Hint

soot

dirt

diamond

black, messy stuff

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. A fourth allotrope of carbon was discovered in 1985 following work done at the University of Sussex and at Rice University. This form of pure carbon was first found as hollow balls. What are these tiny balls called because of their resemblance to a geodesic dome? Hint

buckminsterfullerene

hippy dome house

purple carbon

nanospheres

Most Recent Scores

Oct 22 2024 : robbonz: 8/10
Sep 23 2024 : rivenproctor: 8/10

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. There are four allotropes of carbon. One is famous for its hardness. In this form of carbon, each carbon bonds with four others. What is this allotrope commonly known as?

Answer: diamond

Diamond's unique properties are due to its structure and the small size of the carbon atom. Silicon forms the same structure as diamond, but is not nearly as hard, probably because the small size of the carbon atom allows stronger bonding.

2. Isotopes of carbon are used to determine when a living thing died. The ratio of what two isotopes are used in carbon dating?

Answer: carbon-12 and carbon-14

When an animal or plant is alive its respiration keeps the ratio of C-14 and C-12 constant. After it dies, the carbon-14 decays to carbon-12 and the ratio changes at a known rate, which allows the determination of the date that the animal or plant died. The half-life of carbon is about 5700 years.

Answer: carbon-fiber composite

Carbon fiber composites are used to make guitars, kayaks, and bicycle frames. It is expensive, but worth it for many because of its superior strength, corrosion resistance, and light weight.

4. The name carbon comes from the Latin word carbo. What does carbo mean?

Answer: charcoal

Carbon is one of the elements discovered in ancient times. Its chemical symbol is C.

5. Another allotrope of carbon has a structure composed of sheets of covalently-bonded carbon, held together with weaker bonds. What is this very common form of carbon called?

Answer: graphite

Graphite is 100% carbon, as is diamond. The bonding between the small carbon atoms makes a huge difference in the properties of the materials, due to the overlap of electronic orbitals in the case of graphite. Until recently, diamond, graphite, and amorphous carbon (soot and charcoal) were the only known allotropes of carbon.

6. There is more than one oxidation state for carbon. Which is not a possible one of them?

Answer: C+6

Carbon forms a wide variety of compounds. It forms hybrid structures, mainly with hydrogen. Because carbon can form four bonds,the ultrahard substance diamond is possible. Although silicon also forms four bonds in a diamond type structure, it is brittle because of the relative size of the silicon atom compared with the carbon atom.

7. How abundant, by mass, is carbon in the universe?

Answer: Fourth most abundant

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, followed by helium and oxygen with carbon fourth. Einstein weighs in on stupidity claiming "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Other abundant elements are iron and silicon.

8. What is the branch of chemistry that is concerned with the combination of carbon with hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen?

Answer: organic chemistry

Millions of organic compounds are known. Carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen, although a small group of elements, combine to make more compounds than all of the inorganic compounds combined.

9. Another form of carbon is amorphous carbon. What is a common name for this form of carbon?

Answer: soot

Soot is not crystalline and therefore is classed as without form or amorphous. It results from combustion of hydrocarbons.

Answer: buckminsterfullerene

To date, most of these structures which now include nanotubes and elipsoids are laboratory curiosities, although there are huge number of proposed uses, for example, nanowires or ionic cages.

Source: Author drbabe

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