Danielle, a student in a science class, has been asked to design an experiment examine the process of thermal equilibrium. She places two objects that have the same mass but different initial temperatures in contact with each other. She records the final temperature in a table after the heat has been transferred.

The allotropes of carbon include a variety of structures that include three-dimensional tetrahedral lattices, planes of hexagonal rings, cylindrical tubes of hexagonal rings, and spheres of five- and six-membered rings. similar shapes of network covalent atomic solids are possible with carbon nitride, boron, and pure silicon (e.g., silicene is a graphene-like allotrope of pure silicon). in contrast, silicates exist as either highly ordered or amorphous (more random) three-dimensional lattices. what could explain why there are there no naturally occurring sheets, stacked sheets, cylindrical tubes, or spheres of network covalent atomic solids composed of silicon and oxygen (sio2)? would pure silicate structures make good lubricants or good electrical conductors?