Home | Advertising
I'm sure everybody has seen what a diamond looks like and also what it is. Aside from its beauty, it is known for being the hardest natural substance on Earth. Although they are well known, most people don't know much about them You may already know some of these but I'm sure most people would be surprised with these facts. - To start with, diamond is harder than corundrum, the second hardest natural material on Earth, by 58 times. Sapphire and rubies are formed from conundrum. - A diamond can only be scratched or cut by another diamond. The term "hardness" refers to a diamond's resistance to scratching, so diamonds are really difficult to scratch. This makes it ideal for daily wear because it can't easily be scratched. Some materials may be able to scratch flawed diamonds but the hardest can only be scratched by other diamonds. - If placed in conditions of extreme temperatures up to around 5,500 degrees Celsius or 9,932 degrees Fahrenheit, it will sublime and release carbon dioxide. In those temperatures, graphite and diamond do not melt and instead sublime into gases. - Contrary to popular belief, diamonds can be shattered quite easily. A person can break diamonds just by hitting it with a hammer. The confusion comes from being known as the "hardest" natural material. What most people don't know is that, as mentioned above, hardness only refers to its resistance from scratching. It's toughness (ability to withstand breakage) is only around 3.4 MN m-3/2, which is still a good value compared to other gemstones but weaker to most engineering materials. - After diamond was discovered to be carbon back in 1796, many attempts were made to synthesize diamond from graphite but all were failures. Only after a century and a half were the United States and Sweden able to create a successful lab diamond. The ASEA Laboratory in Sweden had the initial success but it was neither published nor publicized so the United States' General Electric team was credited for the success. There you have it. These are just some of the facts I wanted to share without going too much into the technical side of things. Do you know other interesting facts about diamonds? Do tell!
Article Source: http://www.321articles.com
Everybody knows about diamonds. However, aside from being the hardest natural material on Earth or it's beautiful facets, what else do we know about it? For example, did you know diamonds can be man made (known as lab diamonds)?
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
Powered by Article Dashboard
