9781422279441

Carbon: CHAPTER 1

Discovery and History

C arbon is the sixth most abundant element in the entire universe. All the carbon that makes life on Earth pos- sible formed in stars long ago. Chemical reactions in very young stars formed carbon and other elements. As stars age, they use up the main ingredient of their cores (hydrogen), and collapse in on themselves. The stars eventu- ally explodes in a supernova and the remaining carbon that is distributed through the universe. Here on Earth, it is virtually impossible to name any one person who discovered carbon. Carbon, in its many various forms, has been used by humans for millennia. According to the University of Kentucky’s Center for Applied Energy Re- search, the first known use of carbon was approximately

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