When we hear of the word diamond, we immediately associate it with a worldly and expensive piece of jewellery. Diamond is indeed precious. It has outstanding characteristics that would be envied by other minerals and gemstones. Let us take a closer look at a diamond's features.

In its chemical structure, the chemical formula for diamond is just plain "C". This is because a diamond's molecule is made up of multiple atoms of Carbon which are tightly yet systematically arranged in covalent bonds. This arrangement makes it a very stable molecule. The fact that diamond are only made up of only one type of element makes it the hardest naturally occurring mineral on earth. In the Mohs hardness scale for minerals, diamonds is given the lone perfect ‘10'. The second hardest mineral considered is the gemstone Sapphire which has a chemical formula of "Al₂O₃".

The chemical structure of a diamond also makes it the mineral that is least likely to be compressed. The strong covalent bonding between the tight arrangements of Carbon atoms makes the diamond stiff. Because of its compactness, diamonds have high specific gravity despite the low atomic weight of its Carbon components.

Diamonds are considered as exceptional thermal conductors. This means that they can absorb and release heat four times better copper. It is this property of diamond that it got the nickname "ice". Although, exceptional at transferring heat, diamonds are not good at conducting electricity, although some are being used as semiconductors.

Diamonds are transparent from infrared to ultraviolet lights. Because of the smoothness of a diamonds surface and its high material density, diamonds has the highest reflectance and refraction index among all transparent materials. This property of diamonds causes it to have brilliance and fire which are two terms commonly used by diamond appraisers. The brilliance of the diamond comes from its ability to reflect the light that hits its surface, while the fire refers to the apparent inner glow that the diamond has as it refracts the light that passes through its dense material.

Diamonds in ideal conditions would naturally occur as colourless and clear. However, it is also normal to find diamonds in a variety of colours. It has been reported that coloured-diamond gemstones have been found in all colours of the rainbow. This coloration of diamonds results from the incorporation of trace impurities in its chemical structure as it was being formed billions of years ago. The common trace impurities that are found in diamonds are Boron and Nitrogen which are respectively responsible for making diamonds bluish or yellowish in colour.

Because of the above chemical properties of diamonds, these gemstones have become the most expensive in the jewellery industry. However, the price is worth it since based on the mentioned chemical properties, a diamond does indeed last forever. In fact, loose diamonds that you will find in jewellery stores or those that are studded in earrings and engagement rings have been in existence for thousands of lifetimes since it took billions of years to form most of them.

Diamonds are formed as Carbon atoms that are found in most matter are treated to extreme heat and pressure caused about by the ever changing earth. It will take millions of years under the earth for the crystallization of carbon to occur to form diamond. The structure of a diamond is in a transparent crystal-form of tetrahedral-bonded carbon atoms and is crystallized to a face-centred cubic diamond lattice formation.

The term diamond is coined from the ancient Greek word "Adamas" which means "unbreakable, untamed". Since it was discovered thousands of years ago, the diamond had already lived up to its name since a diamond indeed is considered to be the hardest known naturally occurring mineral in the world. The hardness quality of the diamond makes it also an important mineral in industrial applications.

Diamond is a material renowned for its unmatched physical qualities. Because of this, the only material that can scratch a diamond is another diamond. A polished diamond can last a long time and would not be scratch unless it is rubbed against another diamond. The best industrial-strength abrasives were made with diamond dust.

In the industry sector, properties of diamonds that are most useful are its high dispersion index, extreme hardness, and extremely high thermal conductivity with a 900-2320 W/m K. These properties are the factors that make a diamond worthy exceptional in industrial applications such as an ideal material in grinding and cutting tools.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com