Question

Carbon cannot form C⁴⁺ cation and C⁴⁻ anion. Explain.

Answer 1

1. Carbon cannot form C⁴⁺ because the removal of four electrons requires a very large amount of energy (high ionisation energy), which is not feasible. 
2. It also cannot form C⁴⁻ because gaining four electrons would cause strong repulsion among the electrons and make the ion highly unstable.

Hence, carbon forms covalent bonds by sharing electrons instead of forming ions.