Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Geology, Palaeontology & Archaeology => Topic started by: neilep on 21/04/2007 23:39:49
-
It has been suggested in another thread that if you expose fake diamonds to a strong light for a while and then suddenly extinguish the light that they should glow for a while.
As a firm believer in empirical study I actually have a bunch of fake diamonds..here they are:
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv185%2Fneilep%2Fcubics.jpg&hash=ab71058d0e302ef9f0682e2e69124352).......Nice aren't they ?
Here is how I have given them a suntan for a few minutes while I went and did a poo !! (sorry..I'm in ' too much information ' mode )
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv185%2Fneilep%2FDssSC02952.jpg&hash=aa959f5a25bfc97a53f7ceacbd17d04c)
The RESULT ?
No GLOW !!...not even a hint......The room was pitch black when the light was turned off and I was looking right at them !!
I did wonder if fake diamonds are made from other materials and so I can not conclude that this myth is busted !!
-
Cool Neil! Thanks for this. [;)] How long did you do it for?
-
Hmmm..lemmesee !....walk to loo ...4seconds...trousers down 3 seconds....make a deposit, about three minutes !...trousers up...4 seconds...flush loo...2 seconds...wash hands...30 seconds....walk to office where experiment is conducted...4 seconds.....add another 5 minutes to give them a good roasting...about 9-10 minutes !!
-
I think by fake diamonds it meant zircons?
Sorry, forgot to put the correct brain in this week.
Bee
-
Nice experiment Neily! LOL
-
I think by fake diamonds it meant zircons?
Sorry, forgot to put the correct brain in this week.
Bee
Well, these are cubic zirconia.......they must be related.....but probably not close enough !!..we need siblings not distant cousins eh ?
-
Wait.. you put "Me on the loo".. But aren't you taking the photo? [:o] LOL
-
Wait.. you put "Me on the loo".. But aren't you taking the photo? [:o] LOL
LOL...i'd be breaking a few rules and a few laws and have myself arrested if I did such a thing me young laddio !!
-
Me understand no! [???] Me English speak no.
-
I think Seany meant that as you were on the loo then who took the photo!
[;D]
-
I think Seany meant that as you were on the loo then who took the photo!
[;D]
LOL...semantics !!..don't ewe just luff them ?
Thanks TMM for the clarity !!
Well..Yes.. i took the photo and then I went to do a biblical exodus !!
-
Oh, LOL! You thought that I wanted a picture of you in the loo?! LOL [:P]
-
Oh, LOL! You thought that I wanted a picture of you in the loo?! LOL [:P]
LOL...me is soooo confused I don't even know what I meant !!
-
LOL Ok. [;)]
-
Oh Boy, I can see the punchlines looming but here we go.
The glow from things like this doesn't last long- sometimes just milliseconds (sometimes less but you wont see that). Rather than leaving them to soak up light while you go to the loo try flashing them. Right, that's definitely flashing not flushing.
No I don't want any pictures of you flashing.
Get a flash gun for a camera. You need the sort that you can flash as a "test". Then the silly bit. In a dark room close your eyes, wait a while and flash the gun at the rocks then, after you see the flash open your eyes and look at the stones in the dark to see if they glow. An afterglow that lasts long enough to do this is called phosphorescence.
The idea is to get your eyes dark-adapted and keep them that way; closing them might do the job but you also might need to put your hand over your eyes too. Because the flash is so bright you will see it even with your eyes shut so you know when to open them. Don't look at the flash with fully dark-adapted eyes; at best it will hurt, and you might damage your eyes.
Or it might be easier to see if they glow under UV light (the stones rather than your eyes).
That will tell you if the stones are fluorescent but I'm not sure how much help any of this is in judging their authenticity or value; see this site
http://www.thediamondbuyingguide.com/diamond-fluorescence.html
(The real differences between fluorescence and phosphorescence are more complicated han just a matter of how long the light lasts but I'm tired and I want to go to bed rather than write lots of stuff about photoluminescence)
-
Thanks Bored chemist for the explanation and Neil for the test.
Looks like I got it ars, er the wrong way round.
Now what is that saying "a little knowledge.........."
[;D]
Bee
-
Oh Boy, I can see the punchlines looming but here we go.
The glow from things like this doesn't last long- sometimes just milliseconds (sometimes less but you wont see that). Rather than leaving them to soak up light while you go to the loo try flashing them. Right, that's definitely flashing not flushing.
No I don't want any pictures of you flashing.
Get a flash gun for a camera. You need the sort that you can flash as a "test". Then the silly bit. In a dark room close your eyes, wait a while and flash the gun at the rocks then, after you see the flash open your eyes and look at the stones in the dark to see if they glow. An afterglow that lasts long enough to do this is called phosphorescence.
The idea is to get your eyes dark-adapted and keep them that way; closing them might do the job but you also might need to put your hand over your eyes too. Because the flash is so bright you will see it even with your eyes shut so you know when to open them. Don't look at the flash with fully dark-adapted eyes; at best it will hurt, and you might damage your eyes.
Or it might be easier to see if they glow under UV light (the stones rather than your eyes).
That will tell you if the stones are fluorescent but I'm not sure how much help any of this is in judging their authenticity or value; see this site
http://www.thediamondbuyingguide.com/diamond-fluorescence.html
(The real differences between fluorescence and phosphorescence are more complicated han just a matter of how long the light lasts but I'm tired and I want to go to bed rather than write lots of stuff about photoluminescence)
lol....i am trying to maintain a modicum of rationality by assuming a mature stature but NOT posting pictures of my flashing !!...there would indeed a hysterical exodus from the site flanked by tinges of panic !!
THANKS BC....I reckon some high speed filming will do the job also.....so ..what we are really looking for is some short lived latency eh ?...........hmmm..that's a bit beyond my capabilities !...*le sigh*
-
Thanks Bored chemist for the explanation and Neil for the test.
Looks like I got it ars, er the wrong way round.
Now what is that saying "a little knowledge.........."
[;D]
Bee
I enjoyed doing the test...it was fun !!...my kids enjoyed it all clambering around to see the glow.....so..even though we couldn't detect any I had some (warning: Americanism follows) " quality time " with the kids !!
-
Gwrr.. I wish there was a glow! It would have been awesome [;)]
-
Gwrr.. I wish there was a glow! It would have been awesome [;)]
If I had a blow torch I could probably make them glow !!...having said that..I have no idea what the melting temps of CZs are !
-
LOL! Shove it in a furnace, [;)]
-
LOL! Shove it in a furnace, [;)]
Oh poo *sheepy checks pockets*...I'm fresh out of furnaces !! [;D] [;D]
-
Oh.. They only costs millions of pounds to build!
-
Zirconia melts at 2715C
Hot, but not millions of pounds worth of hot.
-
I mean the furnace costs millions of pounds to build..
-
Zirconia melts at 2715C
Hot, but not millions of pounds worth of hot.
WOW !!...that is still very very very hot !!!...THANK YOU BC !
-
Sorry, but Zirconia is NOT fake diamonds... It's not a real diamond either, Zincornia is Zincornia
Fake diamonds are actually carbon based diamonds which are created by using pressure, high temperature and stuffs, but still uses carbon as it's component.
Instead, maybe you want to search for "synthetic diamonds"
-
If you make artificial diamonds out of carbon with very high temperatures and pressures they are diamonds. Perfectly real diamonds- not fakes.
If you cut cubic zirconia and mount it in the way that jewelers do with diamonds snd (here's the important bit) you say that it is diamond, then the zirconia is afake diamond.
Why dig up a two year old thread to say something that's wrong anyway?
-
The test explained by the questioner was actually for synthetic diamonds. Therefore, using those tests against Zincornia wouldn't work. That's it.
And no, synthetic diamonds are different from real ones, and there are many tests to confirm it.
I don't know the date of this thread, but I saw it on the front of the sub forum, and the site didn't warn me about this post being old when I click reply. It should, shouldn't it?
-
It's possible to tell artificial diamonds from natural ones, but that's just a problem with our engineering. If you made near perfect diamonds (and, in particular if you kept the concentration of metals in them low) they would be identical to natural diamonds.