
Scientists Discover Material Harder Than Diamond - tsally
http://www.physorg.com/news153658987.html
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ars
Why is it that boron, nitrogen, and carbon have a lock on the really hard
materials list?

Many really hard materials are xxx nitride or xxx carbide.

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russell
Off the top of my head, I would say it's because the atoms are small and they
form lots of bonds, carbon in particular. Diamond is a tetrahedral structure
and I think the other really hard substances are also,

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sam_in_nyc
I've always wondered: just how hard are diamonds?

What would happen if I hammered one? Are they so strong as to become lodged
into the head of the hammer, or the surface beneath the diamond? Are they
_that_ hard?

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wmf
_What would happen if I hammered one?_

AFAIK it would shatter because diamond is very brittle. Hardness != strength.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardness>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressive_strength>

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palish
Neat. Does. Anyone know what impact this discovery could have? Is a harder-
than-diamond substance useful? (The obvious use case is for diamond cutters.)

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bullseye
There are quite a few uses listed in the last paragraph of the article.

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palish
D'oh, thanks!

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gojomo
Welcome to The Lonsdaleite Age?

