The carbon atom is unique among elements in its tendency to form extensive networks of covalent bonds not only with other elements but also with itself. Because of its position midway in the second horizontal row of the periodic table, carbon is neither an electropositive nor an electronegative element; it therefore is more likely to share electrons than to gain or lose them. Moreover, of all the elements in the second row, carbon has the maximum number of outer shell electrons (four) capable of forming covalent bonds.
