A Major Explosion Causes "Fountains of Diamonds" to Erupt

Page 1 of 1 [ 4 posts ] 

naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 35,189
Location: temperate zone

09 Jul 2024, 5:26 pm

On gas giants like Jupiter they have weather...sometimes it just snows ...just like here on Earth.

But instead water they have carbon...and instead of crystalized water...they have crystalized carbon (ie diamonds) falling.

In fact one science student I knew in college suggested (a bit tongue in cheekly) that "snow flakes" should be classified by geologist as "igneous rocks" (ie the equivalent of lava in a volcanic eruption).

Sucrose (ie sugar) is a carbon based molecule that forms into crystals (as I understand it). So...do these scientists in the article ever dream of planets that 'snow' sugar I ask?


https://youtu.be/E_VUBDyj-U0



lostonearth35
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Jan 2010
Age: 50
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,555
Location: Lost on Earth, waddya think?

09 Jul 2024, 11:30 pm

Does this mean diamonds will get really cheap now? Which they are are, actually, but the diamond industry has brainwashed us into believing they're really rare and valuable.

Also I doubt the diamonds come out of volcanoes looking all polished and dazzling like the ones in that second image.



QuantumChemist
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Oct 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,007
Location: Midwest

10 Jul 2024, 8:15 am

lostonearth35 wrote:
Does this mean diamonds will get really cheap now? Which they are are, actually, but the diamond industry has brainwashed us into believing they're really rare and valuable.

Also I doubt the diamonds come out of volcanoes looking all polished and dazzling like the ones in that second image.


If the diamond monopoly was broken and all the flawless cut diamonds were dumped on the world market at one time, it has been estimated that the going price for a 1 carat cut diamond would drop down to $10. It would stabilize at that price due to demand. You can buy them below that price, but they will not be in one piece. Very large (30+ carats) flawless diamonds would still be expensive.


Side note: I have 5.005 carats of real diamonds in my office that I bought for my own research purposes. Grand total cost to me: $38. The diamonds are quite small and have inclusions, so they are not in high demand. I am fine with them because I am only interested in using their surfaces for a particular catalytic reaction process. The smaller size works in my favor because it increases the net surface area for the amount I have. The best part is that I will only need a few per reaction, so the amount I purchased will last a very long time. I could reuse them, but it would take more time than they are worth.

I spent more for 1 gram of Buckmeisterfullerenes (C60) than I did for 1 gram of diamonds. The buckyballs were $120/gram. They are allotropes of the same element, but with different structures and hybridization.