KS8452 Buckminster Fullerene C60

Buckminster Fullerene C60 Buckminsterfullerene (or bucky-ball) is a spherical fullerene molecule with the formula C60. It has a cage-like fused-ring structure (Truncated icosahedron) which resembles a soccer ball, made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, with a carbon atom at each vertex of each polygon and a bond along each polygon edge. It was first intentionally prepared in 1985 by Harold Kroto, James R. Heath, Sean O'Brien, Robert Curl and Richard Smalley at Rice University. Kroto, Curl and Smalley were awarded the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their roles in the discovery of buckminsterfullerene and the related class of molecules, the fullerenes.  Buckminsterfullerene is the most commonly naturally occurring fullerene molecule, as it can be found in small quantities in soot. Solid and gaseous forms of the molecule have been detected in deep space. Buckminsterfullerene is one of the largest objects to have been shown to exhibit wave–particle duality. Its discovery led to the exploration of a new field of chemistry, involving the study of fullerenes.   This model is hand made in the USA by Klinger Educational Products. This is a permanent structure. We only use grade A materials. The 1 inch balls are made of hard Maplewood that includes an enameled painted finish. Polished steel rods are used to connect the wooden balls together. Bucky Ball contains  60 -  1 inch balls.