2006-07-03 15:36:33 · 14 answers · asked by Hey Champ 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Diamond. It is a pure crystaline form of Carbon.
2006-07-03 15:40:25 · answer #1 · answered by manofadvntr 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Diamond is the strongest crystal known in the Earth (so far). This is because it is a molecular crystal, not an ionic crystal like so many others (e.g.: salt, sugar, calcite, quartz, snow (yes, it is a crystal), etc...). It is a big molecule of carbon, bonded to itself in a very hard structure. But it is fragile along its planes of cleavage. Most crystals are fragile in this way. Any other suggestions would be interesting - there are probably some theoretical crystals that would be pretty durable. It has been proposed that Hydrogen might form a solid under great pressure - so maybe it would be fairly hard (given that the heavy pressure upon it was maintained).
2006-07-03 15:49:32 · answer #2 · answered by ghart27 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well...it depends, there's sailor crystals, Shure crystals, light crystals, there's many kind...Light is the strongest sailor crystal because its ever flowing, and there's the regular crystals that you can find in the ground, which are referred to as quartz crystals, the stongest one of those are the Ouachita quartz crystal. which are commonly found in the mountains of Arkansas..While the diamond is a very beatiful crystal, I don't believe it is the stongest, although highly durable, its not the strongest. It doesn't have the strongest known chemical linkages, but not necessarily the stongest crystal in the world...But if you do own a diamond it will probably be the oldest thing you'll own due to the long process you go to in order to make one, although with modern technology we can easily speed up that process.
2006-07-03 15:56:48 · answer #3 · answered by poetic_lala 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The strongest or hardest crystals are diamons made from gas:
"Producing a material that is harder than natural diamond has been a goal of materials science for decades. Now a group headed by scientists at the Carnegie Institution's Geophysical Laboratory in Washington, D.C., has produced gem-sized diamonds that are harder than any other crystals and at a rate up to 100 times faster than other methods used to date."
2006-07-03 15:47:15 · answer #4 · answered by philhelp 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Diamond
2006-07-03 15:39:19 · answer #5 · answered by Schbrownie 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. Actually the diamond that everyone is referring to is not exactly correct. Diamond is a crystalline form of carbon, but GE formed a diamond from a carbon isotope (I think it was Carbon 16 but I'm sure others will correct this if wrong.) This was harder and stronger than regular carbon diamond. Hope this helps!
2006-07-03 15:49:33 · answer #6 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Diamond!
2006-07-03 15:41:37 · answer #7 · answered by teresita 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is the dimond. they are used in factorys to cut steel. why would they use something that nice to cut steel why not use quart crystal. for the size they use it would be easy to find it on the side of the road. because dimond is stronger and the strongest in that matter.
2006-07-03 15:43:46 · answer #8 · answered by weirdo fernado 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Aggregated Diamond Nanorods (ADNR)
http://www.azonano.com/news.asp?newsID=1407
http://www.esrf.fr/NewsAndEvents/Spotlight/spotlight25nanorods/
http://www.physorg.com/news6436.html
http://cr4.globalspec.com/article.pl?sid=05/09/02/1249230
I hope this answers your question properly.
2006-07-03 17:12:46 · answer #9 · answered by Adyghe Ha'Yapheh-Phiyah 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Probably diamond. That is why it is also known as Adamantine or hard mineral.
2006-07-03 20:38:08 · answer #10 · answered by The Guru 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋