Question #69900. Asked by niale.
Last updated Apr 19 2023.
Brainyblonde
Answer has 3 votes
Brainyblonde 24 year member
1455 replies
Answer has 3 votes.
Graphite (named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789, is one of the allotropes of carbon. Unlike diamond, graphite is a conductor, and can be used, for instance, as the material in the electrodes of an electrical arc lamp. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphite
Aug 20 2006, 6:19 PM
elburcher
Answer has 2 votes
elburcher 24 year member
1527 replies
Answer has 2 votes.
An isotope is any of two or more forms of a chemical element, having the same number of protons in the nucleus, or the same atomic number, but having different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus, or different atomic weights. There are 275 isotopes of the 81 stable elements, in addition to over 800 radioactive isotopes, and every element has known isotopic forms. Isotopes of a single element possess almost identical properties. An Example is Carbon 12 and Carbon 14. As far as I know only the isotopes of Hydrogen(Protium, Deuterium and Tritium) have a name unto themselves.
Aug 20 2006, 11:36 PM
Baloo55th
Answer has 4 votes
Currently Best Answer
Baloo55th 22 year member
4545 replies
Answer has 4 votes.
Currently voted the best answer.
An allotrope is a different crystalline or molecular form of the same element. Usually one allotrope is more stable than another at a particular pressure and temperature. An isotope has the same physical appearance and chemical properties, but a different atomic structure. C12, C13 and C14 are isotopes, which have different atomic weights. Graphite, diamond and fullerene are allotropes, which can be any mixture of C12, 13 and 14, but mostly are 12 which is stable. C13 and 14 are radioactive, and it is their decay (and the resulting change in proportion to 14) that enables carbon dating of organic material.