Variable: CATENATION

const CATENATION: Record<string, number>

Self-bond (catenation) energy, kJ/mol.

Life needs an element that will bond to ITSELF into long stable chains. Carbon does this at 346 kJ/mol; silicon manages only 226. This is one of the two reasons carbon-based life is likely rather than assumed — a world is scored on it, not handed a verdict.

Note this is strictly about how much heat a chain survives. Silicon chains ALSO hydrolyse, which is a separate effect with a separate table below; conflating the two hides the fact that only one of them depends on water.

Values from the ported periodic table's bondEnergies.