MRSEC
Carbon Nanotubes Activity Guide
Quick Reference Activity Guide
Activity Materials
chicken wire models of different nanotube types
description pages for counting schemes
solid models for graphite and diamond structures
Starting Points
Have you learned about the elements in school? Elements are types of atoms. They make up all of the things around us. One
element that is commonly found in everyday objects (including humans!) is carbon. We're going to talk about the different
structures carbon can make when one carbon atom bonds to another.
Can you name some forms of carbon? Hints: Some people wear rings made from it, and most of you probably use another
form to write everyday in class. Diamond is one form of carbonÍž the graphite used in pencils is another.
Hold up the solid models of diamond and graphite, and explain that each plastic sphere represents an atom. Ask the students
to make some observations about these two structures. Then, focus their responses with the following question: How are the
two structures different? Diamond has connections (bonds) occurring in all three dimensions, which makes the structure very
rigid. That’s why diamond is the hardest natural material known and why diamond can cut glass. On the other hand, graphite
has connections in only two dimensions that form sheets of carbon, called graphene sheets. These graphene sheets stack one
on top of another in layers which easily slip off the pencil onto the paper when we write. Even though these materials are
made of the exact same element – carbon – the atoms can arrange in such a way to make one of the hardest materials and one
of the softest.
Now, imagine taking one graphene sheet and rolling it up into a cylinder – this is a new form of carbon called a nanotube. If
you rolled that same graphene sheet into a ball (so it looks like a nano-sized soccer ball), you get a fourth form of carbon
called a fullerene or buckyball.
Demonstration Procedures
Use starting points to introduce the four forms of carbo