Period 2 element a supplement for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis and arthritis. Carbon is the chemical element with atomic number 6, occurring as C, C and C. At standard temperature and pressure, carbon is a solid, occurring in many different allotropes, the most common of which are graphite, diamond, the fullerenes and amorphous carbon. Graphite is a soft, hexagonal crystalline, opaque black semimetal with very good conductive and thermodynamically stable properties. Diamond however is a highly transparent colourless cubic crystal with poor conductive properties, is the hardest known naturally occurring mineral and has the highest refractive index of all gemstones. In
Atomic number neutral atom, which is "Z" (the atomic number). The configuration of these electrons follows from the principles of quantum mechanics. The number of electrons in each element's electron shells, particularly the outermost valence shell, is the primary factor in determining its chemical bonding behavior. Hence, it is the atomic number alone that determines the chemical properties of an element; and it is for this reason that an element can be defined as consisting of "any" mixture of atoms with a given atomic number. The quest for new elements is usually described using atomic numbers. As of 2010, all elements with