Fullerenes are a family of carbon allotropes, molecules composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, tube, or plane. Spherical fullerenes are also called buckyballs.

Buckminsterfullerene which contains 60 carbon atoms resembles a soccer ball of the type made of twenty hexagons and twelve pentagons, with a carbon atom at the vertices of each polygon and a bond along each polygon edge. It is also the most common in terms of natural occurrence, as it can often be found in soot.

This animation shows a buckyball spinning on its axis.