Naked Science Forum

Non Life Sciences => Chemistry => Topic started by: Alexander Avery on 01/03/2011 08:30:59

Title: Does diamond atomise?
Post by: Alexander Avery on 01/03/2011 08:30:59

Alexander Avery  asked the Naked Scientists:
   
I am Alex, a current high school chemistry student, and I recently asked my teacher a few questions that he could not answer, and neither could Google.

Apparently nitrogen, when subject to extremely high pressures,  becomes a solid and remains in this state under normal pressures as long as the temperature is above 100 K.  Well, since diamond is also formed under astronomical pressures and temperatures, is it possible that a vacuum or very low temperatures could turn diamond into graphite or individual carbon molecules, and why?

Thank you very much for your help.

What do you think?

Title: Does diamond atomise?
Post by: yor_on on 25/03/2011 22:40:43

No.

By compressing something it doesn't naturally follow that the opposite is true. A Diamond is one of the tightest bonded, hardest materials there is. You could heat it into melting though, I remember reading somewhere about that, but it would need to be very high temperatures, don't remember how high.

Title: Does diamond atomise?
Post by: Bored chemist on 26/03/2011 00:26:45

"Well, since diamond is also formed under astronomical pressures and temperatures, is it possible that a vacuum or very low temperatures could turn diamond into graphite or individual carbon molecules, and why?"

yes, but it would take high temperatures, rather than low ones.
You can, in principle, make a diamond turn into carbon atoms by warming it up and putting it in a high vacuum system.
In practice, it would be difficult.