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 The small size of Carbon atom makesC-C bonds very strong.
Hence, compounds of Carbon are exceptionally stable and can exist freely
in nature.

 No other element exhibits the property of catenation to the extent
seen in carbon compounds.

 Silicon forms compounds with hydrogen which have chains of upto seven
or eight atoms, but these compounds are very reactive.
This is due to the larger Atomic size of Silicon atoms. The Si-Si bonds are
longer bonds and hence unstable.

 Allotropes of carbon
The element carbon occurs in different forms in nature withwidely varyingphysical
properties.
Such different forms of anelement with different physical properties but similar
chemical properties are known as Allotropes.

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