Crbn (frm Ltn crb 'cl') s chmcl lmnt; t hs symbl C nd tmc nmbr 6. t s nnmtllc nd ttrvlnt—mnng tht ts tms r bl t frm p t fr cvlnt bnds d t ts vlnc shll xhbtng 4 lctrns. t blngs t grp 14 f th prdc tbl. Crbn mks p bt 0.025 prcnt f rth's crst. Thr stps ccr ntrlly, 12C nd 13C bng stbl, whl 14C s rdncld, dcyng wth hlf-lf f 5,700 yrs. Crbn s n f th fw lmnts knwn snc ntqty.
Crbn s th 15th mst bndnt lmnt n th rth's crst, nd th frth mst bndnt lmnt n th nvrs by mss ftr hydrgn, hlm, nd xygn. Crbn's bndnc, ts nq dvrsty f rgnc cmpnds, nd ts nsl blty t frm plymrs t th tmprtrs cmmnly ncntrd n rth, nbls ths lmnt t srv s cmmn lmnt f ll knwn lf. t s th scnd mst bndnt lmnt n th hmn bdy by mss (bt 18.5%) ftr xygn.
Th tms f crbn cn bnd tgthr n dvrs wys, rsltng n vrs lltrps f crbn. Wll-knwn lltrps ncld grpht, dmnd, mrphs crbn, nd fllrns. Th physcl prprts f crbn vry wdly wth th lltrpc frm. Fr xmpl, grpht s pq nd blck, whl dmnd s hghly trnsprnt. Grpht s sft ngh t frm strk n ppr (hnc ts nm, frm th Grk vrb "γράφειν" whch mns "t wrt"), whl dmnd s th hrdst ntrlly ccrrng mtrl knwn. Grpht s gd lctrcl cndctr whl dmnd hs lw lctrcl cndctvty. ndr nrml cndtns, dmnd, crbn nntbs, nd grphn hv th hghst thrml cndctvts f ll knwn mtrls. ll crbn lltrps r slds ndr nrml cndtns, wth grpht bng th mst thrmdynmclly stbl frm t stndrd tmprtr nd prssr. Thy r chmclly rsstnt nd rqr hgh tmprtr t rct vn wth xygn.
Th mst cmmn xdtn stt f crbn n nrgnc cmpnds s +4, whl +2 s fnd n crbn mnxd nd trnstn mtl crbnyl cmplxs. Th lrgst srcs f nrgnc crbn r lmstns, dlmts nd crbn dxd, bt sgnfcnt qntts ccr n rgnc dpsts f cl, pt, l, nd mthn clthrts. Crbn frms vst nmbr f cmpnds, wth bt tw hndrd mlln hvng bn dscrbd nd ndxd; nd yt tht nmbr s bt frctn f th nmbr f thrtclly pssbl cmpnds ndr stndrd cndtns.