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#524761 - 10/21/09 01:52 PM
This gives a whole new meaning to "cooking" stones
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emilybemilyboo
Ashaholic
Registered: 06/18/08
Posts: 374
Loc: Atlanta
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http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-08/burn-diamonds-torch-and-liquid-oxygen (video)
I love what they say about CZ!
"Gone In a Flash: Burning Diamonds With a Torch and Liquid Oxygen
Diamonds are for, well, a couple seconds
By Theodore GrayPosted 10.08.2009 at 12:24 pm11 Comments
I can’t stand diamonds. No, really, they just tick me off, because nearly everything about them is a lie. Diamonds are neither rare nor intrinsically valuable nor uniquely romantic. Those are ideas invented by the diamond industry. And no, despite what the ads tell you, diamonds are not forever. They are flammable and will burn brightly with a little help from a torch. This makes perfect sense when you consider that they are made of pure carbon, which reacts with oxygen to form carbon dioxide (“reacts with oxygen” just being another way of saying “burns”).
Diamond has one legitimate claim to fame: It is still, as far as we know, the hardest substance. Despite its hardness, though, the chemical bonds that hold the carbon atoms in diamond together are actually weaker than those that hold together the other common form of pure carbon, graphite. The difference is that in diamond the bonds form an inflexible, three-dimensional lattice, whereas in graphite the atoms are tightly bonded into sheets. But those sheets can slide easily against each other, making graphite soft and slippery.
It is bond strength, not hardness, that determines how easily oxygen can attack and burn a material, allowing me to burn a diamond in a pool of liquid oxygen resting in a block of graphite.
If your house burns down with the family jewels inside, you can collect the pools of melted gold, but the diamonds will be gone in a puff of CO2. Cheaper, more attractive stones, such as cubic zirconia and synthetic ruby and sapphire, are made of refractory metal oxides that easily withstand the same heat. So it’s actually mall trinkets, not diamonds, that are forever.
Achtung!Don’t try this demonstration at home. Diamonds can burst violently when heated. (We ruined an expensive camera lens with diamond bullets that could easily have taken an eye out.)"
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#524768 - 10/21/09 02:12 PM
Re: This gives a whole new meaning to "cooking" stones
[Re: MARLEY]
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Dana ♥
Afficionado
Registered: 04/07/09
Posts: 692
Loc: GA
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i don't know which is true, or not, but i do know that heating diamonds in a candle flame (small champagne diamonds, heated for about five minutes) did not result in any damage to the stones... although their colour did change a bit.
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#524769 - 10/21/09 02:17 PM
Re: This gives a whole new meaning to "cooking" stones
[Re: MARLEY]
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LemurGirl
Mentor
Registered: 08/24/07
Posts: 838
Loc: Florida
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Marley, your comment made me want to find an answer, and it appears that the typical house fire is around 1200 degrees F, which is roughly 650 degrees C. I found an interesting report about an experimental house fire here. The melting point of diamond is 3550 degrees C. So I don't really know what he's talking about there. But one thing is correct for sure. Graphite is more stable than diamond, and it also has a higher melting point (3652-3697, sublimes). Interestingly, amorphous diamond has the same melting point as graphite. Source.
This might take some more research. 
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#524779 - 10/21/09 02:56 PM
Re: This gives a whole new meaning to "cooking" st
[Re: MARLEY]
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LemurGirl
Mentor
Registered: 08/24/07
Posts: 838
Loc: Florida
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Yeah, I'm pretty certain your friend's family weren't exaggerating, because the heat required to melt diamonds would probably never be generated in a house fire.
Edited by LemurGirl (10/21/09 02:57 PM)
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#524781 - 10/21/09 02:58 PM
Re: This gives a whole new meaning to "cooking" st
[Re: emilybemilyboo]
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Katertot
Afficionado
Registered: 08/25/09
Posts: 437
Loc: Canada
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Heey cool~!
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