Diamond
| Diamond | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| The strange octahedral shape of this diamond is normal. | |
| General | |
| Category | Native Minerals |
| Chemical formula | C |
| Identification | |
| Molecular Weight | 12.01 g/mol |
| Color | Typically yellow, brown or gray to colorless. Less often blue, green, black, translucent white, pink, violet, orange, purple and red. |
| Crystal habit | Octahedral |
| Crystal system | Isometric-Hexoctahedral (Cubic) |
| Cleavage | 111 (perfect in four directions) |
| Fracture | Conchoidal (shell-like) |
| Mohs Scale hardness | 10 |
| Luster | Adamantine |
| Polish luster | Adamantine |
| Refractive index | 2.418 (at 500 nm) |
| Optical Properties | Isotropic |
| Birefringence | None |
| Dispersion | 0.044 |
| Pleochroism | None |
| Streak | Colorless |
| Specific gravity | 3.52±0.01 |
| Density | 3.5–3.53 g/cm3 |
| Melting point | Pressure dependent |
| Diaphaneity | Transparent to subtransparent to translucent |
| References | [1][2] |
A diamond (from the ancient Greek αδάμας – adámas "unbreakable") is a re-arrangement of carbon atoms; those are also called allotropes. Diamonds have the highest hardness of any bulk (all one type) material. Because of this, many important industries use diamonds as tools for cutting and polishing things. Many of them are clear, but some of them have colors, like yellow, red, blue, green and pink. Diamonds of a different color are called "fancies". Big diamonds are very rare, and are worth a lot of money. This is because a diamond is very useful - it is very hard and it spreads light very well. There are natural and synthetic diamonds. The earth makes natural diamonds. People make synthetic diamonds. Diamonds are the hardest natural substance known to man.
Diamonds are actually made of pure carbon, the same chemical element as graphite, fullerene, and coal. But diamonds are very hard and in crystalline form.
Because many diamonds are beautiful, people make jewellery using them.
Diamonds are very effective electrical insulators, but also very good conductors of heat.
On mohs scale of mineral hardness, diamonds are scored as 10 (the highest score possible).
Diamonds are made deep in the earth, where there is an intense amount of pressure and heat that makes the diamond form. The intense heat and pressure is forming the liquid ore to make volcanic eruptions which surfaces and becomes diamond crystals. (This makes the diamond a metamorphic rock.) Sometimes magma (very hot, liquid rock deep in the earth) having diamonds will come near the top of a volcano. People find diamonds where volcanoes were a long time ago. Sometimes people find diamonds on the top of the ground. But in places like South Africa, they must dig deep down into a diamond mine to get diamonds. Diamonds were first found in India.
References [change]
- ↑ "Diamond". Mindat. http://www.mindat.org/min-1282.html. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
- ↑ "Diamond". WebMineral. http://webmineral.com/data/Diamond.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-07.
Other websites [change]
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The Simple English Wiktionary has a definition for: diamond. |
Media related to Diamond at Wikimedia Commons- Properties of diamond: Ioffe database
- Interactive structure of bulk diamond (Java applet)
- Epstein, Edward Jay (1982). The diamond invention (Complete book, includes "Chapter 20: Have you ever tried to sell a diamond?")
- "A Contribution to the Understanding of Blue Fluorescence on the Appearance of Diamonds". (2007) Gemological Institute of America (GIA)
- Tyson, Peter (November 2000). "Diamonds in the Sky". Retrieved March 10, 2005.
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