eli5 since diamonds are compressed carbon is it combustible? I don’t think so but why?
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You’ve been answered so here’s another interesting and related anecdote: Pearls will dissolve in vinegar.
You’ve been answered so here’s another interesting and related anecdote: Pearls will dissolve in vinegar.
When you burn something like oil, the chemicals drop down from a higher energy state to a lower energy state, and the difference is released as energy. It’s like dropping a rock off a tall building.
Diamonds are already at a low energy state, due to their bonds. So diamonds are like being on the lowest floor of the building. You can’t really drop it any lower.
Others have said you can burn diamonds with enough energy, but you are likely adding energy, although I’m not sure about this.
There is also the activation energy required for a chemical reaction. I don’t feel like trying to explain this, but you can look it up.
When you burn something like oil, the chemicals drop down from a higher energy state to a lower energy state, and the difference is released as energy. It’s like dropping a rock off a tall building.
Diamonds are already at a low energy state, due to their bonds. So diamonds are like being on the lowest floor of the building. You can’t really drop it any lower.
Others have said you can burn diamonds with enough energy, but you are likely adding energy, although I’m not sure about this.
There is also the activation energy required for a chemical reaction. I don’t feel like trying to explain this, but you can look it up.
It’s not that the carbon is just compressed, the atoms are arranged in a very stable configuration so it requires a lot of energy to break these bonds and get them to react with oxygen in the air and combust.
It’s not that the carbon is just compressed, the atoms are arranged in a very stable configuration so it requires a lot of energy to break these bonds and get them to react with oxygen in the air and combust.
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