Destroying Diamonds

[budullewraagh]

diamonds are very, very easy to destroy. you can melt them, smash them, etc

[5614]

sudden force applies great pressure, which is what bud is talking about.

[Gilded]

By the way (oh God, I got to stop btw: ing), if you would melt a diamond and then let it harden, how much weaker the crystal structure would be compared to the strongness before melting? Or would it change at all?

[budullewraagh]

it would probably be weaker because the molecules are not held in place when the diamond is melted, and thus lose their perfect crystaline structure

[Glider]

You're kidding, right? I have a hard time wrapping my mind around the concept of burning a diamond. I mean, I'm no chemist, but hey...

Nope. Not kidding.

 

Yeah I don't think that Glider is right either (though I'm not sure). Isn't the melting point of diamonds near 4500 degrees Celsius?

 

Diamonds don't melt. They are carbon. They burn. Diamonds burn at 726.85 degrees Celsius , or 1,340.33 Farenheit (1000 degrees Kelvin).

 

See here http://philmintz.tripod.com/Chemistry/page5.html

[pulkit]

Theres no question of getting back weaker crystals on re-solidifacation, because all you will end up with in carbon dioxide, which will NOT condense back into a diamond )

 

Diamonda are much harder to burn than coal, what confirms that they are carbon is the fact that they release carbon dioxide on burning.

[Gilded]

Well, in normal conditions melting a diamond isn't possible (it seems I forgot to mention that). You will need a lot of pressure and a low oxygen presence so that it doesn't catch fire.

[budullewraagh]

yes, but it is possible, just like it is possible to have liquid carbon dioxide even though it readily sublimes at stp

[pulkit]

yes, but it is possible, just like it is possible to have liquid carbon dioxide even though it readily sublimes at stp

 

Can u gimme some evidence ?

[budullewraagh]

sure thing. carbon dioxide has a triple point, you know. if you have a great amount of pressure and room temperature, you will find that carbon dioxide will become a liquid

[pulkit]

Diamonds will occur in the phase diagram of carbon only and will occupy certain pressure - temperature regions. However that does not mean that they will meet any area of the phase diagram where a liquid exsists. In essence what I intended to ask was has liquid diamond ever been prepared ?

[budullewraagh]

liquid diamond probably has been prepared. it is at least feasible to do under the correct conditions. i would imagine that heating it greatly in a highly pressurized atmosphere of helium would work

[5605]

heating diomands is possible but it has the highest melting point of any natural subsytance i think

[Gilded]

In my elementary school chemistry book, it says that the melting point is 4500 Celsius, and it's probably the amount needed to actually liquify it. Or then it's the same as with coal and such (a bit above 700 C).

[5614]

At 1 atm the melting point is about 4000K

(+/- ~200 depending upon whose measurements you believe) as different experiments proves different results.

[Gilded]

I wonder if diamond loses it's excellent clarity if it's melted. Probably it does. :/

[pulkit]

Talking about clarity..........can you explain the clarity using only the information about the structure at the atomic level ?

[Gilded]

Hmm, that's a good question. Since the carbon diamonds inside a diamond share their electrons with four other carbon atoms, does it keep the electrons in place so well that the diamond A) doesn't conduit electricity B) let's light through? I know A and B are true but I'm not sure why. :|

[Frostrunner]

NOVA (incase someone doesn't know) a National Public Television program show did a special on Diamonds. Here is a link with some good info on electricity and light waves with diamonds.

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/diamond/sparkle.html

 

Check out the link at the bottom of the page about "Diamonds in the sky" it is really interesting.

[Gilded]

Ok, so the crystal structure causes the light to ricochet around and makes the diamond act as a prism. That's one effect you won't notice too much since diamonds are usually damn small (I have a greenish one that I bought for about 10€ that's almost too small to be seen without a magnifying glass ). But I (and pulkit) still don't have an explanation why some things are transparent/clear and some are not. :|

[Frostrunner]

Just realized earlier post of mine was a waste. Now that I understand the question let me give it a try

 

The translucentness of a diamond is due to the fact that the crystaline structure allows light to pass through it. The photons have a little bit of absorbtion by impurities in the Diamonds and this is what makes some diamonds different colors. The impurities absorb the wavelength and thus are seen to be that color. The light can transmit through the diamond because "the available electrons in the material which could absorb the visible photons have no available energy levels above them in the range of the

quantum energies of visible photons." (Google Answers)

 

See if this helps, Sorry about the last post

[wolfson]

Melting point of diamond = 3815.56oC, thats about 2.5 times more than steel. This information is the correct. Ref: RSC.

[Douglas]

is it possible' date=' in any way, to destroy a diamond....

 

i know they are the hardest substance on earth, but is it possible....

 

e.g. put them next to a nuke! or in a black hole

 

ps. dont use another diamond![/quote']

Carbon boils at 4827° C, I suppose if you crank up the heat, you could vaporize it.

[5614]

Carbon boils at 4827° C, I suppose if you crank up the heat, you could vaporize it.

i once heard that someone nuked a desert somewhere and it turned some of the sand into glass.

(that might not be true, i cant remember where i heard it, but it sounds possible)

[Lance]

http://www.unitednuclear.com/trinitite.htm

http://search.ebay.com/Trinitite