Give a test that can be used to confirm the presence of carbon in a compound. With a valency of 4, how is carbon able to attain noble gas configuration in its compounds?
Answer
If we burn a compound containing carbon in the presence of air, combustion will take place and CO 2 gas will be produced. We can check the presence of CO 2 by passing it through lime water .
If lime water turns milky , that means CO 2 gas has been produced and therefore confirming that the given compound has Carbon in it.
Carbon has a valency of 4 which means it has 4 electrons in the outermost shell. In order to attain noble gas configuration, carbon atoms share these 4 electrons with other atoms to form covalent bonds .