Carbon’s Four Bonds

Why carbon builds everything

An interactive lesson with 6 steps, about 5 minutes: you predict, drag and solve, with instant feedback on every answer. It runs in your browser and needs JavaScript.

What you’ll learn

• Carbon makes 4 bonds and bonds strongly to itself: chains, branches, rings.
• Alkanes: CₙH₂ₙ₊₂.

Steps

1. An element that links to itself
2. Propane
3. The alkanes
4. Octane
5. Why not silicon?
6. A branch