Harder than Diamond - Page 2

Variol (Farseer) Elmwood · 07-25-2006, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DragonSlayer25:
I thought carbon atoms aligned in cubes to make diamonds so strong, but then again I had way too many pretty girls in my chem class.

The only think I know that has a cubed molecular structure is salt. There must be slight differences I guess,.

Variol (Farseer) Elmwood · 07-25-2006, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DragonSlayer25:
And just curious, where does diamond dust come from, and not the obvious "from cutting diamonds", but the first diamond dust. How could they make it without having any, way back when.

Way back they did it by magic, with a shatter spell!

ZFR · 07-25-2006, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Variol (Farseer) Elmwood:

quote:
Originally posted by DragonSlayer25:
I thought carbon atoms aligned in cubes to make diamonds so strong, but then again I had way too many pretty girls in my chem class.

The only think I know that has a cubed molecular structure is salt. There must be slight differences I guess,. [/QUOTE]diamonds atoms are alligned not in cubes but tetrahedrons.

it's the crystal structure of diamonds that's cubic, as it is with salt and many other substances

[ 07-25-2006, 04:21 PM: Message edited by: ZFR ]

Legolas · 07-25-2006, 04:25 PM

Basically, you're dealing with carbon atoms. Rather like caltrops, they have four 'legs' each and so three of them are always in the same plane while a fourth is pointing 'up'. In the case of a diamond you end up with long flat fields of triangular shapes, stacked on top of one another.
It's a very efficient and sturdy structure in some directions, but while a diamond is amazingly hard (difficult to scratch) it is also amazingly brittle (easy to shatter).
The reason for that is, there aren't nearly as many 'legs' pointing up and down as there are pointing 'sideways'. You can slide the layers apart, but you can't easily break the layers themselves.

As to finding diamond dust, it's usually easier to find small pieces of dust and grit lying about than it is to find a huge chunk of diamond. Diamond dust forms when there isn't enough material to form a larger diamond, for example.

EDIT: Here we go:

[ 07-25-2006, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Legolas ]

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07-25-2006, 04:25 PM	#14
Legolas Jack Burton Join Date: March 31, 2001 Location: The zephyr lands beneath the brine. Age: 39 Posts: 5,459	Basically, you're dealing with carbon atoms. Rather like caltrops, they have four 'legs' each and so three of them are always in the same plane while a fourth is pointing 'up'. In the case of a diamond you end up with long flat fields of triangular shapes, stacked on top of one another. It's a very efficient and sturdy structure in some directions, but while a diamond is amazingly hard (difficult to scratch) it is also amazingly brittle (easy to shatter). The reason for that is, there aren't nearly as many 'legs' pointing up and down as there are pointing 'sideways'. You can slide the layers apart, but you can't easily break the layers themselves. As to finding diamond dust, it's usually easier to find small pieces of dust and grit lying about than it is to find a huge chunk of diamond. Diamond dust forms when there isn't enough material to form a larger diamond, for example. EDIT: Here we go: [ 07-25-2006, 04:30 PM: Message edited by: Legolas ]

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