Carbon (from Latin: carbo "coal") is a chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds.It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Three isotopes occur naturally, 12 C and 13 C being stable, while 14 C is a radionuclide, decaying with a half-life of about 5,730 years.