Question

Diamond and graphite are both composed of carbon atoms but have very different properties. Describe the properties of both substances and explain how the bonding in each accounts for these differences.

Answer 1

Ans - Diamond and Graphite are both made of carbon but have different properties as compared to one other. These both are made of carbon , which has 4 electrons in its outter most shell out of these diamond has four bonds which means no free electron and graphite has three bond that means it has one free electron has it can also be said graphite is a good conductor of electricity. Diamond is much more strong than graphite as in diamond the carbon atoms are arranged tetrahedrally that means it is sp³ hybridised so it has all properties of tetrahedral which is, the angle betwwn the carcon to carbon is 109.28 degrees hence it is stable so due to the tetrahedral structure the bond distance also is very less if we see for graphite its hybridisation is sp² hence the structure is trigonal planar and has ang angle of 120 degress between each carbon bond hence the distance is much more large in compared to Diamond. Both these are allotropes of carbon.This is the reason why graphite has low strength than diamond, hence diamond is the hardest substance on earth. If we look in to the structure of both, in diamond has a partially round structure and graphite has a layer to layer structure .