LinkNotes: Buckyballs

2009-05-14

Buckyballs

Buckyballs – a new sphere of science

Up until then, scientists knew of only two forms in which pure carbon occurred: diamond and graphite.

diamond

graphite

Kroto and his colleagues then discovered that the combination of hexagons and pentagons also formed the basis of a geodesic dome designed by the architect and engineer, R. Buckminster Fuller, for the 1967 Montreal World Exhibition. So they decided to name the new molecule buckminsterfullerene (these days shortened to fullerene or buckyball). Chemists write it as C₆₀.

You could go to Montreal to get an idea of what a buckyball looks like. But perhaps an easier way is to look at a soccer ball: you will see that it consists of 20 hexagons (the white patches of leather) and 12 pentagons (the black patches), exactly the same pattern as that of the new molecule.

clipped from en.wikipedia.org

A 3D model of a en:C60 molecule, also called a "Buckyball".

An association football is a model of the Buckminsterfullerene C₆₀

clipped from gizmodo.com

Bucky Balls Are Like Silly Putty Made with Rare-Earth Magnets

clipped from www.thinkgeek.com

BuckyBalls Magnetic Building Spheres

Super powerful, rare earth, magnetic balls - for you to play with.

Make sculptures, puzzles, patterns, shapes, jewelry . . . the joy is endless.

Each set contains 216 BuckyBalls.

Ages: Not for kids or adults under 12 years of age.

Dimensions: each Buckyball is approx. 0.125" in diameter.

clipped from www.youtube.com

Sources:

Pages

2009-05-14

Buckyballs

Bucky Balls Are Like Silly Putty Made with Rare-Earth Magnets