Nature of Diamonds: What Makes Up the Most Precious Gem?
Composition of Diamonds
In its simplest form, a diamond is considered carbon. Carbon, an element that is very essential to life, is the sole composition of diamonds, except for trace minerals such as nitrogen and boron. However, this precious stone is very much different from other minerals like lonsdaleite and graphite, which are also made of carbon. So what sets the difference? Here is the very nature of diamonds:
Diamond Structure
A diamond is a very unique stone. Perhaps it can be attributed to the structure of carbon atoms, which defines the fundamental properties of a particular mineral. A crystal is known to be a solid body made of bonded atomic elements of compounds that are arranged repeatedly. Normally, crystals are made of shiny outer faces. Because of their finite and symmetrical characteristics, crystals' building blocks are only constrained to few numbers of atoms. Chemical compositions are reduced to simple combinations of the elements.
Hardness
Hardness shouldn't be the only criteria used when measuring the durability of the mineral. Aside from that, it should be able to resist fracture. Diamonds are very strong that you can't break them apart easily, but they are highly prone to fracture. Thus, there are certain parts of the diamonds that are so weak. These are also the same areas where you can split the stone. This may be attributed to their crystal structure. All of the diamond's various four directions possess perfect cleavage. This means that they can separately finely on these lines instead of being shattered in irregular fashion. The plane of the diamond's octahedral face is made of crystal structures that have lesser chemical bonds. This, however, proves to be an advantage to diamond cutters. The cleavage enables them to design diamonds more effectively.
Surface Properties
Do you know that a diamond is a peculiar mineral? This is because unlike others, it has the ability to repel water. This might be caused by diamond's carbon composition as well as its strong bonding. These two properties give miners a very effective way of separating the precious stones from other mined minerals. Diamonds that are mixed with washed gravel are flushed with water on a grease table. This is a sloping surface coated with a combination of grease and wax. The diamonds get to stick on the table while others are washed away. Diamonds can be covered with grease, yet you can restore them to their brilliance by simply cleaning them with ammonia.
Color of Diamonds
For most of us, a diamond is a stone that doesn't hold any color. The diamond's color, however, is consist of different shades, ranging from beautiful pinks, yellows, violets, and blues. A diamond that is chemically pure and a perfect crystal is naturally colorless, but it turns to yellow if you include a hint of nitrogen. An addition of boron changes the stone to blue. They may even change to violet, red, actual white, and pure black; but understanding the reasons why can be difficult for one to do. Colored diamonds are strong commodity in scientific studies as well as in the diamond industry. But how can you comprehend the different colors of the diamond? Remember that light is a kind of energy. When you get to view it under a spectrum, you'll realize that at the bottom is the low energy while at the top is the high energy. A specific energy corresponds to every color in the rainbow. If a specific light energy passes through a diamond and is equivalent to the amount required to "bump" a specific electron to another electron, certain portions of the spectrum are directly absorbed. Pure diamonds are colorless since visible light doesn't have enough energy to cause electrons to move. Thus, there's no light being absorbed. Mineral impurities such as boron, hydrogen, and nitrogen - and any flaws in the diamond's structure - can produce electrons to be excited through energy produced by visible light.
Dispersion
Colorless diamonds are known to be fiery. This is one of the most important attributes of a gemstone. And this is commonly caused by superb dispersion. It is defined as the creation of component rainbow colors by separating white light. When there's greater dispersion, there's better separation of color spectrum that's refracted in the stone. You can use the diamond's refractive index to describe the process of splitting visible light into spectrum of colors when it passes a transparent element. The index of refraction is a measurement of the amount of speed of light that's reduced once it passes through a certain medium. Dispersion happens because a substance cannot have a constant refractive index. Instead they vary according to wavelengths or even colors of the light. Subsequently, spectrum's blue end, which is light's shorter wavelength are refracted more than the red one or the longer wavelength, when light passes through a transparent material. Thus, the colors disperse or separate. They also produce a visible spectrum from the prism. You can measure the variation through coefficient of dispersion. When the coefficient of dispersion of the substance is greater, the color's angular spread from an incoming beam of real while light increases. This attribute is more commonly known as brilliance.
Phosphorescence and Fluorescence
Diamonds can actually glow in darkness, which is peculiar. There are particular diamonds that can absorb radiation that's high with energy when they are illuminated with ultraviolet light. They then reemit this as visible light. These diamonds are known as fluorescent diamonds. Others may retain their glow even if the source of ultraviolet light is not on. These are called phosphorescent diamonds. A cushion-cut, 2.15-carat diamond (online diamonds search) can exhibit fluorescence during daylight. However, it cannot do that if it's under incandescent light such as the light bulb. A diamond that can transform from strong green yellow diamond in daylight and fluorescent light to yellow bright in incandescent light is called color-change diamond. Diamonds are indeed special stones. No wonder a lot of people are looking for them and many are willing to offer them at high prices. Their very nature can give you enough reasons why.