Carbon

Carbon is the element of life itself. Every living thing on Earth — from bacteria to blue whales — is built on a framework of carbon atoms. It was known since ancient times in forms like charcoal and soot, but it was Antoine Lavoisier in 1789 who identified it as an element. The coolest thing about carbon is that it can form wildly different materials: soft, black graphite in your pencil and the hardest natural substance, diamond, are both pure carbon!

Carbon dioxide in our atmosphere traps heat and keeps Earth warm enough for life, though too much causes climate change. Carbon fiber is used in race cars, bicycles, and aircraft because it is stronger than steel but much lighter.

Carbon's symbol 'C' is arguably the most valuable single letter in Spellement. It starts an enormous number of English words — cat, cool, chemistry, creative — making it the ultimate building block for spelling with elements.