Carbon has the ability to form very long chains interconnecting C-C bonds.

This property
is called catenation. Carbon-carbon bonds are strong, and stable.[citation needed] This property
allows carbon to form an almost infinite number of compounds; in fact, there are more
known carbon-containing compounds than all the compounds of the other chemical
elements combined except those of hydrogen (because almost all organic compounds
contain hydrogen too).

The simplest form of an organic molecule is the hydrocarbon—a large family of organic
molecules that are composed of hydrogen atoms bonded to a chain of carbon atoms.
Chain length, side chains and functional groups all affect the properties of organic
molecules. By IUPAC's definition, all the other organic compounds are functionalized
compounds of hydrocarbons.[citation needed]

Carbon is the basis for all plastic materials that are used in common household items.

Carbon occurs in all organic life and is the basis of organic chemistry. When united with
hydrogen, it forms various flammable compounds called hydrocarbons which are
important to industry as chemical feedstock for the manufacture of plastics and
petrochemicals and as fossil fuels.

When combined with oxygen and hydrogen, carbon can form many groups of important
biological compounds including sugars,lignans, chitins, alcohols, fats, and aromatic
esters, carotenoids and terpenes. With nitrogen it forms alkaloids, and with the addition
of sulfur also it forms antibiotics, amino acids, and rubber products. With the addition of
phosphorus to these other elements, it forms DNA and RNA, the chemical-code carriers
of life, and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the most important energy-transfer molecule in
all living cells.