Diamond Diamond Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. At room temperature and pressure, another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form, but diamond almost never converts to it. Diamond has the highest hardness and thermal conductivity of any natural material, properties that are utilized in major industrial applications such as cutting and polishing tools. They are also the reason that diamond anvil cells can subject materials to pressures found deep in the Earth. Because the arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely
Mineral Mineral A mineral is a naturally occurring chemical compound, usually of crystalline form and not produced by life processes. A mineral has one specific chemical composition, whereas a rock can be an aggregate of different minerals or mineraloids. The study of minerals is called mineralogy. Minerals are classified by variety, species, series and group, in order of increasing generality. As of November 2018, there are more than 5,500 known mineral "species"; 5,389 of these have been approved by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA). Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish