While often celebrated for their incredible hardness, diamonds possess a key weakness: they are vulnerable to breakage due to perfect and easy cleavage.
Understanding Diamond's Vulnerability
Diamonds are renowned for being the hardest naturally occurring substance, ranking a 10 on the Mohs hardness scale. This means they are highly resistant to scratching. However, hardness is distinct from toughness. Toughness relates to a material's ability to withstand impact without breaking or shattering.
Based on the provided reference:
- Toughness relates to the ability to resist breakage from falls or impacts.
- Because of diamond's perfect and easy cleavage, it is vulnerable to breakage.
- A diamond will shatter if hit with an ordinary hammer.
This means that despite their resistance to scratching, diamonds can be split or broken along specific planes where the atomic bonds are weaker. This property is known as cleavage.
Cleavage Explained
Think of cleavage as potential weak points within the diamond's crystal structure. A significant impact, especially one aligned with these cleavage planes, can cause the diamond to split or break.
- Hardness: Resistance to scratching. (Diamond is very hard).
- Toughness: Resistance to breaking or shattering from impact. (Diamond is less tough than its hardness might suggest, due to cleavage).
This is why, as the reference states, a diamond can shatter if hit with an ordinary hammer, despite its legendary hardness. The hammer's impact, if strong enough and potentially aligned with a cleavage plane, overcomes the diamond's toughness limitations.
Practical Implications
For diamond owners or those working with diamonds, understanding this weakness is crucial:
- Jewelry: While diamonds are durable for daily wear, avoiding sharp blows, especially to exposed points like the girdle or facets, is important.
- Cutting and Polishing: Diamond cutters utilize the cleavage property to split larger rough stones before sawing or laser cutting begins.
- Care: Proper care involves protecting diamond jewelry from impacts that could exploit these cleavage planes.
In summary, the primary structural weakness of a diamond lies in its perfect cleavage, which makes it susceptible to breakage or shattering under impact, despite its extreme hardness.
