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
Anisodesmic crystal anion equals the charge on that anion." When there is more than one type of bonding in a crystal, strongly anisotropic physical properties can result such as those of graphite. Many other substances have anisotropic physical properties. Such properties are directly related to the atomic structures of the substances. Conversely, halite is an example of an isotropic crystal with equal hardness in all directions. Anisodesmic crystal An anisodesmic crystal (sometimes anisodemic crystal) is a crystal containing bonds with differing electrostatic valencies. All other crystals are known as isodesmic crystals (or isodemic) and examples include diamond and halite. These terms are