imported>mutante mNo edit summary |
imported>mutante mNo edit summary |
||
Line 6: | Line 6: | ||
[[Buckminster Fuller/Lectures]] |
[[Buckminster Fuller/Lectures]] |
||
=== Buckministerfullerine / Bucky Balls === |
|||
Until a few years ago, there were two known forms of pure carbon, graphite and diamond. Then an improbable-seeming third form of carbon was discovered: a hollow cluster of 60 carbon atoms shaped like a soccer ball. Buckminsterfullerene or "buckyballs"--named for the American architect R. Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes had a similar structure--is the roundest, most symmetrical large molecule known. It is exceedingly rugged and very stable, capable of surviving the temperature extremes of outer space. At first, however, the molecule was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. But when a convenient way of making this molecule, also known as C60, was discovered, it set off an explosion of research among chemists, physicists, and materials scientists to uncover the molecule's secrets. |
|||
C60 is the third major form of pure carbon; graphite and diamond are the other two. Buckyballs were discovered in 1985 - the product of an experiment on carbon molecules in space. |
|||
* http://www.imbris.net/~jfromm/bucky/bucky.htm |
|||
=== Links === |
=== Links === |
||
[http://www.bfi.org/ bfi.org - The Buckminster Fuller Institute] |
[http://www.bfi.org/ bfi.org - The Buckminster Fuller Institute] |
||
[[Category:Literature]] |
[[Category:Literature]] |
Revision as of 21:14, 18 December 2005
(add Wikipedia's picture here)
add another description here
Buckministerfullerine / Bucky Balls
Until a few years ago, there were two known forms of pure carbon, graphite and diamond. Then an improbable-seeming third form of carbon was discovered: a hollow cluster of 60 carbon atoms shaped like a soccer ball. Buckminsterfullerene or "buckyballs"--named for the American architect R. Buckminster Fuller, whose geodesic domes had a similar structure--is the roundest, most symmetrical large molecule known. It is exceedingly rugged and very stable, capable of surviving the temperature extremes of outer space. At first, however, the molecule was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. But when a convenient way of making this molecule, also known as C60, was discovered, it set off an explosion of research among chemists, physicists, and materials scientists to uncover the molecule's secrets.
C60 is the third major form of pure carbon; graphite and diamond are the other two. Buckyballs were discovered in 1985 - the product of an experiment on carbon molecules in space.