Table of Contents
Why are diamonds so strong?
The outermost shell of each carbon atom has four electrons. In diamond, these electrons are shared with four other carbon atoms to form very strong chemical bonds resulting in an extremely rigid tetrahedral crystal. It is this simple, tightly-bonded arrangement that makes diamond one of the hardest substances on Earth.
Are diamonds close packed?
The diamond structure is a very common form. This structure is based on the cubic close packed structure with 4 additional atoms (pictured as green balls) in holes within the structure. The form of carbon in diamonds has this structure. It is also the structure of crystalline silicon.
Is diamond strong or weak?
Diamond is extremely strong owing to its crystal structure, known as diamond cubic, in which each carbon atom has four neighbors covalently bonded to it.
Why does it take so long for diamonds to degrade?
This means that, on a long enough time scale, diamonds will degrade into graphite. It takes an enormous amount of energy, however, to break the chemical bonds in a diamond so that it can reform as graphite. As a result, the degradation under normal atmospheric conditions takes place so slowly — over billions of years —…
Why is it so hard to remove carbon from Diamond?
Carbon atoms need to be closer together to bond with each other which also makes it difficult to pull them apart. As a final (pedantic) note, diamond is actually only metastable at atmospheric temperatures and pressures: graphite is the stable form of carbon in ambient conditions.
Is diamond metastable at high temperatures?
As a final (pedantic) note, diamond is actually only metastable at atmospheric temperatures and pressures: graphite is the stable form of carbon in ambient conditions. But once high temperature and high pressure push carbon over the large energy barrier required to form diamond, it won’t go back easily because of the strong covalent bonds.
Why does diamond not degrade into graphite?
At high pressure, diamond is the most stable configuration of pure carbon and not graphite. For this reason diamond spontaneously forms and does not degrade to graphite deep underground. Also note that since diamond is made out of carbon, diamond can burn just like coal.