Carbide

In chemistry, a carbide is a compound composed of carbon and a less electronegative element. Carbides can be generally classified by chemical bonding type as follows: (i) salt-like, (ii) covalent compounds, (iii) interstitial compounds, and (iv) "intermediate" transition metal carbides. Examples include calcium carbide, silicon carbide, tungsten carbide (often called simply carbide when referring to machine tooling), and cementite, each used in key industrial applications. The naming of ionic carbides is not systematic.