Posted by ROSHAN B.S on Aug. 24, 2014, 5:22 p.m.
All carbon allotropes are solids under normal conditions, with graphite being the mostthermodynamically stable form. They are chemically resistant and require high temperature to react even with oxygen. The most common oxidation state of carbon ininorganic compounds is +4, while +2 is found in carbon monoxide and other transition metal carbonyl complexes. The largest sources of inorganic carbon are limestones,dolomites and carbon dioxide, but significant quantities occur in organic deposits ofcoal, peat, oil and methane clathrates. Carbon forms a vast number of compounds, more than any other element, with almost ten million compounds described to date,[14]which in turn are a tiny fraction of such compounds that are theoretically possible under standard conditions.