Buckyballs – a new sphere of science
Box 1 | Finding the molecular structure of buckyballs
Once buckyballs had been discovered, the challenge was to work out the molecule's structure. What geometric shape could produce a stable structure combining 60 carbon atoms? One possibility was that the molecule might have a structure similar to flat sheets of graphite wrapped into spheres.
Toothpicks, bubblegum and computers
To test this idea, Kroto, Curl and Smalley made models. One was a sphere formed from 60 bubble gum balls and toothpicks. In a separate attempt, Smalley used his home computer to try to make a ball from a series of hexagons. None of the models worked. The scientists simply could not make a regularly shaped ball from 60 'atoms'.
As a last resort, Smalley cut a sheet of paper into five-sided and six-sided shapes. After a little experimentation, he used sticky tape to join together 12 of the pentagons with 20 hexagons to make a ball. Much to Smalley's delight, the neatly shaped ball had 60 corners. It even bounced!
Box
Box 2. The many potential uses of fullerenes
Related site
Designs on C60 (Chemistry in Britain, September 1996)
Posted November 1999.