Carbon is an element that has many compounds. Carbon is evident in all forms of life. It is said to be the building block of all organic life forms. One of the most famous compounds of carbon is the ever-popular carbon dioxide (CO2). This compound is colorless and odorless. This is the most popular compound of carbon; to humans this compound is a waste product of cellular respiration. On the other hand this compound is essential to plants for photosynthesis. This process of plant using the compound and humans giving off the compound as a waste product is called the carbon cycle. Carbon dioxide makes up 0.03 of the earth’s atmosphere. Another very popular compound of carbon is carbon monoxide (CO). It is a colorless, odorless gas, about 3 percent lighter than air, and is poisonous to all warm-blooded animals and to many other forms of life. Carbon monoxide comes predominantly from the emissions from cars. Carbon monoxide is an important industrial fuel because it contains more than two-thirds of the heating value of the carbon from which it was formed. Plants, animals, and other life forms make carbon-based organic molecules that range from small to enormous in size. Small molecules include acetic acid (C2H4O2), which gives vinegar its sour taste; the simple sugar glucose (C6H12O6); and common table sugar, sucrose (C12H22O11). The three basic energy-providing nutrients of living organisms, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, are all based on carbon compounds. Other important compounds come from a series of carbon compounds called the alkene series. Among the members of the series are ethylene (C2H4), butadiene (C4H6), and isoprene (C5H8). Al

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