Symmetry of buckminsterfullerene

Buckminsterfullerene, C₆₀, is one member of the family of fullerenes, pure carbon molecules that are a cage of carbon atoms. These cages can be closed (buckyballs, fig 1) or open (buckytubes, fig 2). They were first reported in 1985¹ and were the subject of the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1996.² In the original experiment when graphite underwent laser ablation, C₆₀ was by far the most prevalent member of the fullerenes, with C₇₀ being the second most abundant.² C₆₀ contains 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons, fused such that the centres of the pentagons are at the corners of an icosahedron, making buckminsterfullerene a truncated icosahedron. Each of the pentagons shares its edges with adjacent hexagons.