The Wonder Element
“No element is more
essential to life than carbon,”
says the book Nature’s
Building Blocks. The unique
characteristics of carbon
enable it to bond with itself
and many other chemical
elements, thus forming
millions of compounds, more
of which are constantly being
discovered or synthesized.
As the examples here show,
carbon atoms can also
combine to form various
shapes, including chains,
pyramids, rings, sheets, and
tubes. Carbon truly is a
wonder element!
DIAMOND
Carbon atoms form
pyramids, called
tetrahedrons, making the
structure extremely rigid and
making diamond the hardest
naturally occurring
substance known. A perfect
diamond is essentially a
single molecule of carbon
atoms.
GRAPHITE
Tightly bonded carbon
atoms are set out in loosely
bonded layers that can slide
away from one another like
sheets of paper on a stack.
Because of these
characteristics, graphite is
both a fine lubricant and a
key compound in lead
pencils. *
GRAPHENE
This refers to a single layer of
carbon atoms arranged in a
hexagonal mesh, or lattice.
Graphene has a tensile
strength many times that of
steel. A pencil trace may
have small amounts of
graphene in single or
multiple layers.
FULLERENES
These hollow molecules of
carbon come in shapes that
include microscopic balls
and tubes called nanotubes.
They are measured in
nanometers, or billionths of a
meter.
LIVING ORGANISMS
The many cells that make up
plants, animals, and humans
are built on a framework of
carbon—an element found in
carbohydrates, fats, and
amino acids.
“[God’s] invisible qualities . .
. are perceived by the things
made.”— Romans 1:20 .
Carbon—A Product of
Ultrafine Tuning in the Stars
Carbon is formed by the
fusion of three helium nuclei,
which scientists believe
occurs inside stars called red
giants. For the helium to
combine, however, certain
conditions must be exactly
right. “Change just a few of
the settings [of physical
laws] even an infinitesimal
amount,” wrote physicist
Paul Davies, and “we’d have
no universe, no life and
certainly no humans.” How
can we account for such
ultrafine tuning? Some say it
just happened. Others see it
as evidence of a wise
Creator. Which view do you
consider more reasonable?