What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

What is the difference between carbon and charcoal?

carbon | charcoal |

In uncountable terms the difference between carbon and charcoal

is that carbon is the chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6 while charcoal is impure carbon obtained by destructive distillation of wood or other organic matter, that is to say, heating it in the absence of oxygen.

As an adjective charcoal is

of a dark gray colour.

As a verb charcoal is

to draw with charcoal.

carbon

English

Noun

(wikipedia carbon)
  • (label) The chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6.
  • A sheet of carbon paper.
  • * 1939 , (Raymond Chandler), (The Big Sleep) , Penguin 2011, p. 51:
  • He stepped back and opened his bag and took out a printed pad of D.O.A. forms and began to write over a carbon .
  • A carbon copy.
  • A fossil fuel that is made of impure carbon such as coal or charcoal.
  • Carbon dioxide, in the context of global warming and climate change.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-25, author= Martin Lukacs
  • , volume=190, issue=20, page=13, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Canada becoming launch-pad of a global tar sands and oil shale frenzy , passage=If Alberta’s reserves are a carbon bomb, this global expansion of tar sands and oil shale exploitation amounts to an escalating emissions arms race, the unlocking of a subterranean cache of weapons of mass ecological destruction.}}

    Derived terms

    * activated carbon * beta carbon nitride * carb-, carbo- * carbinol * carbinyl * * * * carbon anhydride * carbon arc * carbon audit * carbon-based * carbon bisulfide, carbon bisulphide * carbon black * carbon copy * carbon-copy * carbon cycle * carbon dating * carbon debt * carbon dioxide * carbon disulfide, carbon disulphide * carbon emissions trading * carbon fiber, carbon fibre * carbon fixation * carbon footprint * carbon group * carbonic * carbonise, carbonize * carbonite * carbonless * carbon literacy * carbon market * carbon microphone * carbon monoxide * carbon nanofiber * carbon nanofoam * carbon nanotube * carbon-neutral * carbon-nitrogen cycle * carbon offset * carbonometer * carbonous * carbon oxide * carbon oxychloride * carbon oxysulfide, carbon oxysulphide * carbon paper * carbon printing * carbon process * carbon resistor * carbon sequestering * carbon star * carbon steel * carbon suboxide * carbon tax * carbon tetrabromide * carbon tetrachloride * carbon tetrafluoride * carbon tetraiodide * carbon trade * carbon transmitter * carbonyl * Carborundum * carboxyl * carburet * chlorocarbon * chlorofluorocarbon * chromo-carbon * ferrocarbon * fluorocarbon * fluorochlorohydrocarbon * glassy carbon * halocarbon * hydrocarbon * sulfide of carbon, sulphide of carbon * radiocarbon

    See also

    (carbon related terms) * aggregated diamond nanorod * amorphous carbon * buckminsterfullerene * ceraphite * chaoite * charcoal * coal * diamond * fullerene * graphite * lamp black * lead * lonsdaleite * soot * steel ----

    charcoal

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (uncountable) Impure carbon obtained by destructive distillation of wood or other organic matter, that is to say, heating it in the absence of oxygen.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=
  • , title=Internal Combustion , chapter=2 citation , passage=But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries.  By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal .}}
  • (countable) A stick of black carbon material used for drawing.
  • *
  • (countable) A drawing made with charcoal.
  • A very dark gray colour.
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of a dark gray colour.
  • Made of charcoal.
  • * {{quote-book, year=2006, author=
  • , title=Internal Combustion , chapter=2 citation , passage=But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries.  By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.}}

    Derived terms

    * activated charcoal * charcoal burner * charcoal drawing * charcoal grey

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To draw with charcoal.
  • To cook over charcoal.
  • See also

    * carbo vegetabilis * briquette * brown coal * coal * coal pot * collier * fusain * kangri * wood coal *