Sample Element webpage: Carbon (work in progress)
WORK IN PROGRESS: NOT FINAL SAMPLE
Carbon
Symbol: C
Atomic Mass (the number of protons): 6
Number of electrons when neutral: 6
Common charges: +2, +4, -4
Most common number of neutrons: 6
Atomic Mass: 12.0107 g/mol
Carbon has two major isotopes, C-12 and C-14, which have 6 and 8 neutrons respectively.
C-14 is unstable and radioactive, and breaks down into N-14 with a half-life of about 5730 years. This half-life timing makes Carbon dating useful for identifying the age of fossils within the time of humanity, but not extremely old materials, such as dinosaur fossils or the age of the earth.
Some common forms of pure carbon:
Different forms of pure carbon (Source: Houston Geological Society)
For more background on the common forms and uses of carbon today, check out this presentation.
Common Forms of Carbon:
Diamonds are pretty crystals, and form under huge pressures under continental plates, and are the hardest known substances. Don't hit a diamond with a hammer though, it will shatter. It's only hard when you scratch it, hitting it with a hammer is more about power, not hardness.
Graphite is the thing you write with in pencils. A "lead" is the term for the cylinder of graphite that makes all the marks, it was never made of the actual element lead, so no lead poisoning.
Buckminsterfullerene, or "bucky balls" are super strong and tiny carbon spheres, and carbon nanotubes are kind of like stretched out bucky balls, and they're also super small, super light, and incredibly strong. We may use them to make things like space elevators someday.
The assignment itself:
You are expected to create a webpage for your element that contains at least the following:
a. The name of the element
b. Basic information: Symbol, atomic number, atomic mass, number of protons and number
of neutrons, common charge when or if it becomes an ion, electron configuration
c. Description of what the element is like: group and period of the periodic table, and how
that links to physical description, what type of element is it (metal, metalloid…)
d. What is the background history behind the element and its name and discovery?
e. A picture of where on the periodic table to find your element
f. A PowerPoint presentation with the modern uses of your element
You will be graded on:
A) content
B) appropriate research (finding, judging, using and citing information from multiple sources)
C) your use of technology in the forms of creating a webpage, editting content, and creating a powerpoint presentation, and
D) the aesthetic of your webpage in terms of visuals, layout, and mood created for the visitor