The Chemistry of Diamonds

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Image result for diamonds

The Chemistry of Diamonds
By: Bell Muthukumaran

                     
                                  Even though diamonds are pretty and hard, they are really old, they are usually found in rocks that are 50 million to 1.6 billion years old. The amazing part is that the diamonds in the rocks are actually much older than the rocks, they are usually about 3.3 billion years old. The reason that diamonds are much older is because when volcanoes explode, the magma brings up diamonds from deep inside the earth. That volcanic magma solidifies into rock, and the diamonds can be found within the rock. That magma didn't create the diamonds though, it only transported the diamonds from inside the earth to the surface. This is why the diamonds are so much older than the rock that contains them.
                                      Another interesting type of diamonds are space diamonds, they are diamonds that form under the high pressures and temperatures of places where meteors or meteorites have struck the earth. The diamonds that are formed where meteorites strike may be younger than the rocks within the Earth, but some meteorites contain stardust, which is what is left over from the death of a star. That is the thing that may include diamond crystals. One meteorite that was found had tiny diamonds that were over 5 billion years old! (Which is older than our solar system). Now we will talk about the actual chemistry of a diamond. A diamond is made up of five carbon atoms joined together. The structural unit of a diamond consists of eight atoms. These eight atoms appear to be arranged in a cube formation. That structure is very solid and stable, which is why diamonds are so hard. Studying the number of isotopes in the carbon in the diamond makes it possible to trace the history of the carbon. The number of isotopes found in the carbon on the earth's surface is slightly different from that of stardust. Also, plants and animals naturally absorb carbon in food, water and soil. As a result, the number of isotopes in the carbon inside living things is different from that that of the Earth or the stars.
        Each carbon atom joins four more other carbon atoms in a triangular crystal. Diamonds can evolve into many different shapes, which are known as crystal habits. The most common crystal habit is the eight-sided diamond shape. Diamonds can also form more complex shapes. One flat shape of a diamond is made up of several crystals, and its known as a "macle". Other diamonds that have rounded surfaces and longer shapes are known as "etched crystals". Real diamond crystals don't have completely smooth faces. Instead of those smooth surfaces, they have rough triangular parts which are called trigons. Cleavage is how a mineral breaks apart, diamonds have perfect cleavage in four different directions, which means that a diamond will separate neatly along these directions. Diamond cutters use these natural lines to guide them when they are cutting diamonds. 

 I believe that this field will advance in finding out even more information about the chemical composure of the diamonds because that will help gemcutters and people that work with diamonds because they will be able to perfect what they are doing.
https://www.thoughtco.com/chemistry-of-diamond-602110
Image result for structure of diamonds
http://www.chemistryislife.com/the-chemistry-of-diamonds

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