Carbon and its Compounds

Class 10 Science · Chapter 4

163 members in the CBSE community

View all

CBSE Class 10 · ScienceTrending

Every equation and law of all 13 chapters
  • Marks booster + cheatsheet: key concepts in 2 lines each, common traps
  • 25 marks each: Units I and II
  • 13 marks: electricity and magnetism
  • Common traps, corrected
  • 12 marks: light and the human eye
  • NCERT tables turned into charts
Page 1 free about 8 min read, Full kit about 55 min read

CBSE Class 10 · ScienceTrending

Every equation and law of all 13 chapters
  • Marks booster + cheatsheet: key concepts in 2 lines each, common traps
  • 25 marks each: Units I and II
  • 13 marks: electricity and magnetism
  • Common traps, corrected
  • 12 marks: light and the human eye
  • NCERT tables turned into charts
Page 1 free about 8 min read, Full kit about 55 min read
View all 12 amazing Marks Booster kits →

Summary

Carbon forms a vast number of compounds because of two properties: catenation, its ability to bond with other carbon atoms in long chains, branches and rings, and tetravalency, its capacity to form four covalent bonds. Covalent bonding by sharing electrons gives molecules with low melting points and poor conductivity. Hydrocarbons may be saturated (alkanes, single bonds) or unsaturated (alkenes and alkynes, with double or triple bonds). Functional groups such as alcohols, aldehydes, carboxylic acids and ketones give families of compounds their characteristic chemistry, and a homologous series is a group of such compounds differing by a –CH₂– unit. The chapter examines ethanol and ethanoic acid in detail, along with important reactions like combustion, oxidation, addition and substitution, and explains the cleansing action of soaps and detergents through micelle formation.

Covalent bonding in carbonCatenation and tetravalencyHydrocarbons and functional groupsEthanol and ethanoic acidSoaps and detergents

Key terms

Catenation
Self-linking of carbon atoms into chains and rings.
Covalent bond
A bond formed by sharing electron pairs between atoms.
Homologous series
Compounds with the same functional group differing by –CH₂–.
Micelle
A cluster of soap molecules that traps oily dirt in water.

Extra questions & answers

QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS

EXERCISES

Group Activity

Try one from this chapter
The valency of carbon is:
Flashcards & interactive practice

Practice quiz · Carbon and its Compounds

Score on this chapter, climb the leaderboard, and get an AI diagnosis of your mistakes.

Double-checked questions Real exam pattern 1 free test every month, then ₹9 per test

#1

Carbon and its Compounds

Start here
Science 10 Qs · ~10 min

Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis

#2

Carbon and Its Compounds Advanced Challenge | CBSE Class 10 Board Examination

10 Qs · ~10 min

Instant score, answer review and weak-topic diagnosis

Data & insights