Diamonds, posted for Stacey

150-200 kilometers deep into the core you can find where diamonds are formed by carbon containing material. Diamonds arise to the surface with volcanic rock from erupting volcanoes. It is possible to make synthetic diamonds by exposing carbon substances to very high pressures and temperatures. Graphite forms from carbon substances at lower pressure and temperature so diamonds are allowed to form when the temperature and pressure are increased because it becomes more stable than graphite. Pure diamond is colorless and any color that you may see in a diamond is an impurity that was trapped during formation. Diamonds reflect about one sixth of the light that hits it whereas glass reflects only about four percent. This gives diamonds the color that it appears to have when light hits it at certain angles. Diamonds do not conduct electricity but they are very good heat conductors. They feel cool when you hold them because they draw heat away from your fingers.

-Diamonds are heat conductors
-Pure diamonds are colorless
-Graphite and diamonds are both formed from carbon

Diamonds turn out to be a very interesting topic it seems. I definitely did not know that they were considered a good heat conductor but it makes sense that when you hold them they feel cool because they are drawing all the heat from your fingers. Diamonds that are pure have absolutely no color, I did not know that diamonds where impure when they gained their color. Also, I did not know that diamonds reflected so much light most of the time making it seem like they had color in them. I did not know that carbon was such an important element. I know that things such as some hockey sticks contain graphite and that graphite is made from carbon substances. What I did not know was that carbon creates graphite and diamonds, all that needs to be changed is the amount of pressure and temperature and you can obtain diamonds. Overall I actually did not know that it was possible to synthetically create diamonds, I thought that that was why they were so expensive was because they were natural and rare.

Baird, Colin. Chemistry in Your Life. W.H. Freeman and Company: New York, 2006;
pg. 195-196