Giant covalent structures of carbonEdexcel International A Level Chemistry: Flashcards
What these 13 flashcards ask
- How many covalent bonds does each carbon atom form in diamond?
- Why is diamond so hard?
- Why does diamond not conduct electricity?
- How many bonds does each carbon atom form in graphite?
- Why does graphite conduct electricity?
- Why is graphite soft and used as a lubricant?
- Why does graphite have a very high melting point?
- Why is graphite less dense than diamond?
- What is graphene?
- Give two properties of graphene.
- Give two uses of graphene.
- Give two uses of graphite.
- Give two uses of diamond.
Exam questions on Giant covalent structures of carbon
- A drilling company fits diamond-tipped bits to its rock drills. The same company also supplies graphite for use as a dry lubricant and as electrodes.Explain why graphite is soft and can be used as a lubricant.2 marks
- Graphene is a single layer of graphite, one atom thick, in which carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal network. It is being developed for transparent, flexible touch screens and for strong, lightweight composite materials.Explain why graphene conducts electricity.2 marks
- Diamond and graphite are both forms of pure carbon and both have very high melting points. Diamond has a density of 3.51 g cm⁻³ and does not conduct electricity. Graphite has a density of 2.27 g cm⁻³ and does conduct electricity. In graphite the distance between neighbouring layers is 0.335 nm, which is more than twice the carbon–carbon bond length within a layer, 0.142 nm.Explain, in terms of structure and bonding, why diamond has a very high melting point and does not conduct electricity.3 marks
Written by the Exaim team, led by Shaun Daswani (Head of Upper Secondary, Improve ME Institute; MSc Financial Mathematics, Imperial College London; BSc, UCL) and Jason Daswani (operational lead, Improve ME Institute; LSE).