Standard 3h Preknowledge
3h) Students know the bonding characteristics of carbon that result in the formation of a large variety of structures ranging from simple hydrocarbons to complex polymers and biological molecules.
CALIFORNIA FRAMEWORKS SUMMARY: Building on what they learned in grade eight about the unique bonding characteristics of carbon, students explore in greater depth the incredible diversity of carbon-based molecules. They are reminded that, given carbon’s four bonding electrons and four vacancies available to form bonds, carbon is able to form stablecovalent bonds—single or multiple—with other carbon atoms and with atoms of other elements.
Students learn how the presence of single, double, and triple bonds determines the geometry of carbon-based molecules. The variety of these molecules is enormous: over 16 million carbon-containing compounds are known. The compounds range from simple hydrocarbon molecules (e.g., methane and ethane) to complex organic polymers and biological molecules (e.g., proteins) and include many manufactured polymers used in daily life (e.g., polyester, nylon, and polyethylene).