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Compare Carbon vs Oxygen

Comparing Carbon (C) and Oxygen (O). Atomic numbers 6 and 8 with atomic masses 12.01 u and 15.999 u, classified as nonmetal and nonmetal. Below: a side-by-side comparison of their physical, atomic, electron-configuration and historical properties, including density, melting and boiling points, ionization energies, oxidation states and discovery history.

vs
C
Carbon
#6
O
Oxygen
#8

Periodic properties of the elements

CarbonOxygen
SymbolCO
Atomic number68
Group1416
Period22
Blockpp
Element categoryNonmetalNonmetal

Physical properties

CarbonOxygen
Phase at STPSolidGas
Density1.821 g/cm31.429 g/cm3
Atomic weight12.0096 u15.999 u
Melting point-54.36 K
-218.79 °C
-361.822 °F
Boiling point-90.188 K
-182.962 °C
-297.3316 °F

Atomic properties

CarbonOxygen
Electronegativity (Pauling Scale)2.553.44
Electron affinity121.776 kJ/mol140.976 kJ/mol
Oxidation states−4, −3, −2, −1, 0, +1, +2, +3, +4
(a mildly acidic oxide)		−2, −1, 0, +1, +2
()
Ionization energies
  1. 1086.5 kJ/mol
  2. 2352.6 kJ/mol
  3. 4620.5 kJ/mol
  4. 6222.7 kJ/mol
  5. 37831 kJ/mol
  6. 47277 kJ/mol
  1. 1313.9 kJ/mol
  2. 3388.3 kJ/mol
  3. 5300.5 kJ/mol
  4. 7469.2 kJ/mol
  5. 10989.5 kJ/mol
  6. 13326.5 kJ/mol
  7. 71330 kJ/mol
  8. 84078 kJ/mol

Electron configuration

CarbonOxygen
Shorthand configuration[He] 2s2 2p2 [He] 2s2 2p4
Full configuration1s2 2s2 2p2 1s2 2s2 2p4
Electrons per shell2, 42, 6

History

CarbonOxygen
DiscoveryEgyptians and Sumerians (3750 BC)Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Joseph Priestley (1774)
Named byAntoine Lavoisier (1777)
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