Physical Properties Flashcards
What are some of the physical properties of a diamond?
Hardness, Toughness, Brittle, Repels Water, Thermal Conductivity, and Cleavage,
Durability
Gemstone combination of hardness, toughness, and stability.
Hardness
Hardness is the ability of a material to resist abrasion when a pointed fragment of another substance is drawn across it without sufficient pressure to develop fracture or cleavage.
Toughness
Resistance to impact (diamonds are brittle).
Black Diamonds
Black Diamonds are tough as well as hard.
Hardness direction
Crystals have different bond strengths directions, so hardness varies with direction.
Fracture
When a mineral sample is split in a direction which does not serve as a plane of perfect or distinct cleavage. A mineral fractures when it is broken or crushed. It is the breaking that occurs in largely random directions in both crystalline and non-crystalline materials.
Stability
Ability of a material to resist physical or chemical alteration due to light, heat or chemical attack.
Cleavage
Directional breakage, along particular planes of atomic bonding in a crystalline material. It is a weakness in particular directional plane of the crystal cause of the atomic bonding.
Glass Cleavage
Cleavage can only occur in crystalline material and cannot occur in amorous material such as glass.
Fractures Occurrence
Can occur in any gem material, whether crystalline or not. Crystalline gems can be fractured in directions across a cleavage direction.
Conchoidal Fracture
Concentric breaks similar to ridges in a seashell.
Thermal Conductor
One of the best conductors of heat
Insulators
Usual does not not conduct electricity but a few occasions such as Type IIb. The purer the diamond, the better it will function as an insulator.
