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
Chemical element plants, the calcium in mollusc shells, or the iron in the hemoglobin in vertebrate animals' red blood cells. The concept of an "element" as an undivisible substance has developed through three major historical phases: Classical definitions (such as those of the ancient Greeks), chemical definitions, and atomic definitions. Ancient philosophy posited a set of classical elements to explain observed patterns in nature. These "elements" originally referred to "earth", "water", "air" and "fire" rather than the chemical elements of modern science. The term 'elements' ("stoicheia") was first used by the Greek philosopher Plato in about 360 BCE in his dialogue Timaeus,