I was meant to find this out for schoolwork but now I’m genuinely intrigued.
I think it’s something to do with how many types of particles are in a rock so some of them don’t have such a strong chemical bond? I don’t know, someone explain please xD
In: Chemistry
It’s all about the strength of the atomic bonds. For example, carbon can form both graphite, which is very soft, and diamond, which is very hard. Both graphite and diamond are made entirely of carbon; the only thing that differs between them is how the carbon atoms are arranged. Graphite is made of layers of carbon sheets, which slide over each other very easily, which is why it makes for good pencils. In a diamond, each carbon atom is bonded very strongly to 4 other carbon atoms in a very strong lattice, thus giving it its strength
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