3 ms·
Diamond is quite brittle so I think to the point of the discussion, it's likely a brittle material even if it's somewhat less brittle than diamond.
by harpiaharpyja 5y ago
Diamond is quite brittle so I think to the point of the discussion, it's likely a brittle material even if it's somewhat less brittle than diamond.
- beerandt 5y agoDiamonds are actually tricky, because their practical brittleness is mostly due to breaks in the lattice caused by impurities. The lines of weakness are defined as cleavage, and diamonds will typically cleave along those lines when the break. So there's a bit of ambiguity between the actual brittleness of the pure carbon structure and the practical brittleness where breaks in that structure naturally exist.
- zardo 5y agoDoes that mean diamonds might have ductile fractures if they were flawless? Or just that they would be stronger?