The Arguable Diamond
Science brain teasers require understanding of the physical or biological world and the laws that govern it.
Once again, I find myself with two persons who don't have anything in common and are, right now, arguing.
"That is not the real diamond I lent you! You thief! Where is it?" the lady shouted, pointing to the small stone on the hand of the man.
"This is the real diamond!" the man objected. "In fact, I have proof!" he added, taking a hammer out of his briefcase. Why he had a hammer in the first place, I didn't want to find out.
Placing the stone on a table, he carefully aimed the hammer at the gem and with one big arc, hit the stone with so much force that the table quivered. The gem remained intact.
"See? It didn't break. Therefore, it is a diamond, which is the hardest mineral on Earth!" he cried triumphantly.
"You have a point," said the woman reluctantly, with a voice sounding of defeat.
Is that her real diamond?
Answer
The man was lying.
"Diamond may be the hardest mineral," I said, "but that doesn't mean that it will withstand that blow you gave."
Diamond is actually a brittle substance and will crack under a sudden, sharp blow.
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Comments
JZumun   
May 10, 2008
| First approved teaser!
Sorry for the bad writing.  |
kunju 
May 11, 2008
| very very good teaser
didnt need a lot of thinkingg
 |
tangled_brain
May 11, 2008
| Very interesting. Never new that. I'd assume the crystals slide across each other, similar to the way graphite does? Great teaser. |
JZumun
May 12, 2008
| Thanks, guys. hehe.
Anyway, the structure of the molecules of diamond are very rigid (unlike graphite) This is what makes it very hard, but also makes it susceptible to breaking from a lot of force. |
uhhhh
May 30, 2008
| well, the answer is obvious. although diamond is the hardest mineral, check out the structure and also, why is diamond so expensive? one need extream care when cutting diamonds. |
solarsistim321
Jun 17, 2008
| I always looked at this like plastic and glass. Hardness is just how easy you can scratch something. Can you scratch glass easier than plastic? Yes. So glass is harder than plastic. But what happens when you throw it at a wall?
Anyway cool teaser. It was fun.  |
unklemyke
Aug 19, 2008
| Hardness is, as others have said, resistance to being scratched and the ability to cut or scratch other materials. Diamonds break or shatter because of their cubic structure. The are hard on the faces of the crystals, but subject to octahedral cleavage along their fracture planes.
PS - Just because it will scratch glass does NOT guarantee that it'sa diamond! Glass is only around a 7 on the Moh's hardness scale-there are many minerals and man-made subtances harder than that. |
Dishhead5
Sep 18, 2008
| One needs extreme care when cutting diamonds due to the fact that they must use the internal reflection of the diamond to keep as much light inside it as possible, hence why it shines so bright. |
Paladin
Apr 09, 2009
| Fun and interesting quiz. |
Candi7 
Jun 12, 2012
| Got it RIGHT!  |
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