|
Diamond is carbon in its most concentrated form. It is composed solely of carboon, the chemical element that is fundamental to all life.
But diamond is distinctly different from its close cousins the common mineral graphite and lonsdaleite, both of wich are also composed of carbon. Why is diamond the hardest surface known, while graphite is exceedingly soft? Why is diamond transparent while graphite is opaque and metallic black? What is it that makes diamond so unique?
The key to these questions lays in diamond's particular arrangement of carbon atoms or its crystal structure; the feature that defines any mineral's fundamental properties. A crystal is a solid body formed from bonding of atomic elements or compounds in a repeating arrangement. Often, crystals possess smooth external faces. Due to their symmetrical and finite nature, the building blocks of crystals are limited to relatively small numbers of atoms, and their chemical compositions to simple numerical combinations of elements. 
|
