What is the chemical formula of diamond?

The density of diamond is so great that it is impossible to process it with anything other than the same mineral. It was used as decoration and for household needs, it became the reason for the appearance of legends. The mineral is believed to be useful for certain ailments and is endowed with magical properties. The formula of diamond is C, like that of graphite, but if you study the differences between stones in chemistry, you will find that the latter is noticeably inferior in many respects. The crystal has no analogues among minerals, both natural and grown in laboratory conditions. What is a diamond made of and is its strength so great that it is awarded the title “the hardest stone on Earth”?

A little about prey and color

• The result of increasing the temperature of silicates, which are compounds of oxygen and silicon. Crystals are hidden in the crust of the Earth’s mantle, and powerful deep-seated explosions push them to the surface.
• Formation under the simultaneous influence of high temperatures and pressure caused by falling meteorites.

The mineral is mined from:

• Diamond mines by washing river and sea sand. This is how small pebbles are found, the carbon composition of which is designated by the letter C.
• Diamond quarries – places where rock deposits are located near the surface, which allows for open-pit work.
• Underground mines, such as kimberlite pipes , first discovered in the 19th century. Ore is mined by drilling and laying mines.
• Diamond mines requiring a combination of work methods.

An untreated gemstone is unsightly in appearance and has a rough surface without shine. Crystals can be either microscopic or very large. The weight of most diamonds rarely exceeds 15 carats. The exception is nuggets weighing hundreds of carats. How much does 1 carat of diamond weigh →

Jewelers are interested in no more than 25% of all mined stones. The rest are destined to become part of industrial plants and tools. The smallest gems are turned into diamond powder.

The color range of diamonds is varied: watery-colorless, gray, blue, blue, yellowish, red, pink, green, black.

Many specimens are unevenly colored:

The quality of a mineral is determined not only by color or size, but also by the presence/absence of inclusions and defects. The variety of colors determines the chemical composition of the diamond and the natural conditions under which its formation occurs. The incredible diamond hardness also depends on this factor.

About chemical properties

The chemical composition of diamond is extremely simple – it is carbon compounds, the mass fraction of which is 99,8%. The norm is the presence of a small amount of particles of calcium, boron, nitrogen, magnesium, silicon or aluminum that have penetrated the crystal lattice. This is explained by the fact that absolutely pure carbon does not exist in nature. Perhaps it is due to impurities that diamonds acquire their unique properties.

The description of the crystal structure of diamond goes something like this: Each atom hidden in the stone is made up of six electrons. Under the influence of temperatures and enormous loads, a transformation occurs, as a result of which the atoms are assembled into a certain chain consisting of tetrahedra. The redistribution of energy makes them part of the crystalline cell. Particles united by a sigma bond receive a significant strength coefficient.

The crystal lattice of the mineral has the shape of a face-centered cube. There is one atom at the vertices, and four in the middle. The shape of the diamond crystal is such that 18 atoms are safely hidden inside. This “packaging”, supported by a strong covalent bond, is what makes diamonds incredibly hard.

Diamond’s unique chemical properties and unusual structure cause it to luminesce in different colors when exposed to X-rays. This characteristic can be useful when checking for the presence of radiation.

About physical properties

The chemical formula of diamond determines its extraordinary physical properties. They are characteristic only of this mineral, and diamonds have no analogues among other stones yet.

Distinctive properties of diamond due to its chemical composition:

• The refractive index of diamond ranges from 2,417 to 2,421. Combined with a strong dispersion of 0,0574, it makes the edges applied during processing shine, playing in the light.
• Diamond has exceptional density, equal to 3500 kg / m³ .
• Diamond hardness occupies the highest position Mohs scale with an indicator 10 . If we talk about absolute hardness, it is 150 and 1000 times higher than that of corundum and quartz, respectively.
• Speaking about the physical properties of diamond, one cannot fail to mention it excellent insulating properties , due to the almost complete absence of electrons.
• Acid resistance , capable of dissolving metals, which is ensured by the strength of diamond, and pliability to some alkaline solutions.
• Melt the stone starts at a temperature 4000 °C and pressure approx. 11 GPa .
• Burn out mineral can, but there is no point in worrying too much: this will only happen at temperature 850-1000 °C in air and at 720-800°C under flow of oxygen .
• Warmed up to 2000 °C, being in vacuum conditions, diamond becomes graphite and explodes .

The hardness of diamond is so great that it is unlikely to be damaged by metal or other minerals. But a stone can break if it falls on a solid surface, which indicates extraordinary fragility.

The refraction of diamonds is such that if you place a colorless crystal on a page with printed text, you will not be able to read what is written. This characteristic of a diamond allows you to distinguish a fake from an original. The diamond is inserted into products without a foil backing, unless otherwise intended by the designer, because the base, despite its apparent transparency, will still remain invisible. Read more about how to distinguish a diamond from cubic zirconia →

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What chemical element forms the basis of a diamond is a question that interests many. And the answer is very simple: C, carbon, a chemical element that has the sixth atomic number in the periodic table. The amount of impurities in diamond is so small that they are not taken into account in its chemical formula. It should be noted that diamond consists of atoms, not carbon molecules. So, the chemical formula of diamond is C .

If we talk about impurities in more detail, the most common are nitrogen, silicon, magnesium, calcium, aluminum, boron. Less commonly, iron, barium, copper and others. In percentage terms, the maximum amount of impurities can be 5%. One component of impurities is no more than 2 %.

The uniqueness of diamond is explained by the structure of its crystal lattice. Diamond crystallizes in a cubic system, corresponding to the densest “packing” of atoms, and containing only 18 carbon atoms. In it, each atom is connected with the four nearest atoms located at the vertices of a regular tetrahedron. The distance between two neighboring atoms lattice 0,154 nm. Constant crystal lattice size 0,356 nm.

From the valence state in which the carbon atoms in a substance are located determines the properties of this substance. Therefore, carbon can take different,allotropic, forms: soot, charcoal, graphite, graphene, coke, hexagonal diamond, carbon nanotubes, polycumulene, fullerene.

The difference between them is in the structure of the crystal lattice. For example, the crystal lattice of graphite is layered. In layers, C atoms are located at the sites of hexagonal cells of the layer. Each C atom is surrounded by three neighboring ones with a distance of 1,42Α

What makes a diamond unique?

-Diamond has no analogues, either natural or artificially created. It has the highest hardness among minerals on the ten-point Mohs hardness scale and has a value of 10 out of 10.

-Due to its hardness, diamond is very inert and has very high resistance to acids and alkalis.

-Diamond has very high thermal conductivity. Does not heat up in your hands.

-You can also note such properties of diamond as
lack of electrical conductivity, low photoconductivity, abnormal birefringence.

-But diamond is fragile and can be broken.

-Burns in the presence of oxygen at a temperature of 750-800 °

-Under the influence of X-ray irradiation, it begins to emit light of a green or blue hue

-Repels water but sticks to fat

-Has high wear resistance

It is generally believed that diamonds were formed in the bowels of the planet under the influence of high temperatures and pressure. Although there is a theory about their extraterrestrial origin, falling to earth during massive bombardment by meteorites.

Diamonds were formed in the so-called kimberlite pipes (from the surname Kimberly) millions, billions of years ago. Then, under the influence of erosion, some of them fell into rivers and were carried along their beds. That’s where people found the first diamonds. In history, more than 5 people started talking about diamonds thousands of years ago, when the inhabitants of India paid attention to shiny stones that could not be broken, but with their help other minerals were easily processed.

Natural diamond attracted the ancient inhabitants of India with its transparency and brilliance, gradually becoming a kind of hard money for which they could purchase food, clothing and other valuables. The rulers of the country did not subject these stones to any processing, but kept them in their entirety, placing them in treasuries. In Europe, they learned about the existence of diamond crystals only in the era of Alexander the Great after his campaigns in India. And the current name diamond comes from the Greek “Adamas”, from which the Arabic “Almas” and then the familiar “Almaz” came.

And in our time, some diamonds are found in alluvial deposits, but mainly diamonds are mined using the mining method.

Diamonds can also be obtained artificially. There are several ways to obtain them.

– creation of conditions close to natural, the so-called HPHT technology. Diamond is synthesized from graphite deposited on a seed stone

– chemical vapor deposition, or CVD method, producing diamond from methane vapor. With this method, graphite is also deposited.

-explosive synthesis. Transition of graphite into diamond under shock loads

All these methods do not make it possible to obtain diamonds close in quality to natural ones, so they are used for technical purposes.

However, recently significant progress has been made in production moissanite, one of the types of artificial diamond. Moissanite is superior in its properties to real diamond in terms of sparkle, since its refractive index of light is 25% higher than that of natural stone. Now it is already possible to obtain completely transparent moissanite, and in jewelry it has simply eclipsed natural diamond.

Diamonds are widely used in jewelry and industry.