[Jewelry making - Article 00235] - [Orchid] Diamond's Structural Secrets Revealed

[Teresa Masters]

========[ Invite a Friend - http://www.ganoksin.com/invite.htm  ]========

    Good Morning all, 

    I subscribe to livescience.com and today found a very interesting 
    article about the unique crystal structure of Diamonds. 
    Hugs,
    Terrie

        Diamond's Structural Secrets Revealed
        By Andrea Thompson 

        Sure, diamonds are shiny and sparkly, but their beauty may
        ultimately come from their unique crystal structure, one
        mathematician says. 

        Toshikazu Sunada, of Japan's Meiji University, conducted a
        mathematical analysis of the crystal structure of diamond and
        found that it has certain special properties, especially in its
        symmetry. 

        In a crystal, atoms are packed in ordered, repeating patterns,
        with the bonds between them holding them tightly together.
        Crystals can be represented in models by points (representing
        the atoms) connected by lines, or edges in particular patterns. 

        Two main patterns emerge in crystals: the pattern of edges
        connecting the points (or of the bonds between atoms) and the
        pattern of a network of connected edges and vertices that
        repeats throughout the crystal. 

        Diamonds have two key properties that distinguish them from
        other crystals. One is called "maximal symmetry"while other
        crystals can be deformed in models to make them more symmetric,
        diamond cannot. 

        Diamond also has a property similar to circles and spheres,
        which look the same no matter which way you rotate them.
        Similarly, a diamond crystal looks the same when viewed from the
        direction of any edge. 

        Sunada discovered that out of an infinite universe of
        mathematical crystals, only one other shares these two
        properties with diamond, a theoretical model Sunada calls the
        "K_4 crystal." 

        "The K_4 crystal looks no less beautiful than the diamond
        crystal," Sunada said, adding that though it is only theoretical
        now, it could one day be found in nature or created.
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