Saturday, June 7, 2008

Know more about Diamonds

Diamond is a colourless exceptionally hard mineral (but often tinted yellow, orange, blue, brown, or black by impurities), found in certain igneous rocks esp. the kimberlites of South Africa. It is used as a gemstone, as an abrasive, and on the working edges of cutting tools. Composition: carbon. Formula: C. Crystal structure: cubic. Name derived from the Greek adamas meaning invincible. Relative density 3.50- 3.52. Cleavage eminent along octahedral faces. Fracture conchoidal. Tenacity brittle. Lustre brilliantly adamantine. Refractive index 2.417- 2.419. Dispersion strong 0.044. Diamond crystals form as cubes, octahedra , the most common gem form, and dodecahedra. Colourless to yellow diamonds which have a strong absorbtion line in the violet end of the spectrum are members of the Cape series. Color is usually pale yellow to colorless, but can also be brown, blue, green, orange, red, and black.

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