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What is the difference between carbon and coal?

carbon | coal |

In uncountable terms the difference between carbon and coal

is that carbon is the chemical element (symbol C) with an atomic number of 6 while coal is a black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.

As a verb coal is

to take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships).

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

    Related terms

    (terms related to carbon) * carbonaceous * carbonade * carbonado * (Carbonari) * carbonate * carboniferous * carbonify * carbonigenous

    See also

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

    coal

    English

    (wikipedia coal)

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (uncountable) A black rock formed from prehistoric plant remains, composed largely of carbon and burned as a fuel.
  • (countable) A piece of coal used for burning. Note that in British English either of the following examples could be used, whereas the latter would be more common in American English.
    • Put some coals on the fire.
    Put some coal on the fire.
  • (countable) A type of coal, such as bituminous, anthracite, or lignite, and grades and varieties thereof.
  • (countable) A glowing or charred piece of coal, wood, or other solid fuel.
    • Just as the camp-fire died down to just coals , with no flames to burn the marshmallows, someone dumped a whole load of wood on, so I gave up and went to bed.
  • Charcoal

    • Hyponyms

    * anthracite, bitumin

    Derived terms

    * bituminous coal, soft coal * brown coal * channel coal * coal ball * coal bed * coal black * coalboy * coal gas * coal hole * coal oil * coal tar * coal tit * coalmine, coal mine * coals to Newcastle * hard coal (see: anthracite) * white coal

    Related terms

    () * charcoal * colliery

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To take on a supply of coal (usually of steam ships).
  • * 1890 , (Oscar Wilde), The Picture of Dorian Gray , ch. XVI:
    • The light shook and splintered in the puddles. A red glare came from an outward-bound steamer that was coaling .
  • To be converted to charcoal.
  • * 1957 , H.R. Schubert, History of the British Iron and Steel Industry , p. 18:
    • As a result, particles of wood and twigs insufficiently coaled are frequently found at the bottom of such pits.
  • To burn to charcoal; to char.
  • * Francis Bacon
    • Charcoal of roots, coaled into great pieces.
  • To mark or delineate with charcoal.
    • (Camden)
  • To supply with coal.
    • to coal a steamer

    Anagrams

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