Carbon Group: Elements of the Fourth Main Group

The elements of the carbon group, that is, those of the fourth main group, have strongly divergent properties. The atoms of these elements either accept four electrons or usually give off two or four to achieve a stable electron configuration. Coal and thus graphite has been known since prehistoric times, and diamond as the second important modification of carbon is already mentioned in Chinese sources from the 3rd millennium BC. Since the Bronze Age, people have known lead, and tin has also been known for 6,000 years. However, we have learnt some 200 years ago that sand is based on silicon, and germanium was described in 1886. Atoms of flerovium were able to be produced in 1999, so still in the last millennium. So, we have a long-known family of elements before us. The non-metal carbon, in its graphite modification, is a high-melting solid, as are the semi-metals silicon and -with qualifications- germanium. Tin and lead, the metallic representatives of this group, on the other hand, have low melting points. Flerovium is possibly even a slightly volatile semi-metal.