It is formed by taking a icosahedron and slicing off each vertex one third of the way down the edge. It collapsed upon itself. I then triangulated all the hexagons and pentagons, and I now had a stable structure. Comparing the two shows the surprising difference. But, according to principles uncovered by R. Buckminster Fuller, and by my verification, it is the triangulation of the carbon molecules that causes the stability.
Chemists use clay and sticks to form models of molecules.
The resiliency of clay tends to mask the triangle's unique property. Chemists also use computers to form molecules. The artificiality of the computer again masks the triangle's property. Perhaps these reason help explain why the triangulation of the Buckyball has not been pointed out and properly emphasized. This failure to show the proper triangulation of graphite would also help explain the misconception regarding the Fullerene.