If carbon is black, why is the diamond, which is made of carbon, clear?

Answer 1

Carbon is not "black". Carbon is an element, and a single atom of carbon doesn't have color.

Carbon bonds in different ways, and depending on how carbon bonds it will appear a different color, as these bonds will absorb and reflect light differently.

Answer 2

It may seem surprising that diamond is simply carbon, just like charcoal or graphite. In fact carbon has at least two other rare, and only recently discovered forms, or allotropes, known as fullerenes.
The difference is caused by the different types of bonding between adjacent atoms to form different types of crystalline structure.
In diamond, each carbon atom is bonded to four other carbon atoms in a tetrahedral structure, like a pyramid. Each link or bond is the same length, and the tetrahedral formation is therefore completely regular. It is the strength and regularity of this bonding which makes diamond very hard, non-volatile and resistant to chemical attack.
Theoretically a perfect diamond crystal could be composed of one giant molecule of carbon.
Carbon is a non-metallic element with the atomic number of 6, and an atomic Weight of 12. In combination with oxygen and hydrogen it is contained by all living objects. In the form of graphite it appears black or dark gray, opaque, and is very soft, whereas in the form of diamond is it clear, colourless, and extremely hard. In fact diamond is the hardest known naturally occurring substance.
Carbon has a density of about 2.3 and diamond about 3.5.

Answer 3

different structure, carbon has 3 main allotrophs (different compounds made of only carbon) and several synthetic ones. The main 3 are charcoal, graphite, and diamond. The first two are black, however diamond is not. Color is a function of electron excitability, which is controlled partly by the strength of the bonds formed in a compound. Different bond strength, different color. Carbon is not black, some of the structures it forms are black. An actual singular carbon atom is probably only truly black in an organic chemistry model set.

Answer 4

The diamond is black because when it undergoes through a certain amount of pressure and heat, the stone/carbon is altered and becomes a diamond. It also depends on the characteristics that the piece of carbon has.

Answer 5

It is indeed all about crystalline structure, and in particular how that structure influences the electron energies in the atom. Carbon atoms in coal have an electron structure that absorbs radiation, converting it to heat, and thus appears black. Diamond structure is quite different -- it is a good insulator, so electromagnetic fields do not cause electron transport, and the energy levels are separated enough that light photons don't knock the electrons around.

Answer 6

Carbon is like a lot of other chemicals in that when they are put through some extreme process, they change physical properties. Putting carbon through an extreme heat and pressure process changes it into diamond. Putting any other chemical through the same process would completely change its characteristics also.

Answer 7

Even diamond dust is black. It has to do with the arrangement of the molecules, atomic bonding and how it crystalizes. When the atoms are rearranged, light refracts differently than when the atoms are arranged precisley in the order of a diamond crystal.

A cool experiment to do on your own is to take a single crystal of salt and look at it under a microscope or even a magnifying glass. You will see that it is translucent and sometimes even transparent. Now, crush the single cystal and you will see that it turns completely white. That is because you have changed the arrangement of the molecules in the crystal, and light reflects of of it differently than when the crystal had its molecules in order.

Answer 8

The tetrahedral arrangement of atoms is the source of many of diamond’s properties. The carbon atoms in Graphite, the other major allotrope of carbon, display a different (nontetrahedral) connectivity and as a result shows dramatically different physical characteristics: graphite is a soft, dark gray, opaque mineral. Other elements of the carbon group such as silicon crystalize like diamond.

Answer 9

Because of the heat & the intense pressure under which it was formed, the carbon metamorphasizes (sp?) & becomes the diamond - I think the entire molecular structure is changed?
Darn - I should have paid closer attention in eighth grade science class!!!! lol

Answer 10

it has to do with compositional structure. the diamond is a carbon matrix, where all the atoms line up in a cubic grid (like a checkerboard in 3-D where each corner of the squares are carbon atoms).