why carbon form large number of compounds?
Dear user,
Carbon has some really unique properties which help to form such a large number of compounds....
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Catenation- It is the ability of carbon compounds to form long chains, branched chains or rings.
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Smaller nucleus helps it to attract more number of electrons.
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Tetravalency- It has got 4 valence electrons..( actually even silicon, lead and all of group 18 elements are tetra valent but carbon is the one with the above properties as well, which give it an edge over the other elements).