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Question

Question: Is diamond a rock?...

Is diamond a rock?

Explanation

Solution

Allotrope defines the term refers to one or more physical forms of a chemical element which occurs in the same physical state. Allotropes show differences in physical and chemical properties of an element. Graphite and diamond are two allotropic forms of carbon.

Complete step-by-step answer: Diamond is one of the important allotropic solid forms of carbon. In this atoms are arranged in a crystal structure known as cubic form of diamond. Diamond is not the hardest and has the highest thermal conductivity from all the natural sources. The arrangement of atoms in diamond is extremely rigid due to which many types of impurities can contaminate it and it also has relatively high optical depression.
In diamond the bonds are sp3s{{p}^{3}} hybridized and the atoms form tetrahedral with each bond to four nearest neighbors. It is least compressible in nature and has high density. Due to its hardest property and less compressible nature it can also be considered as rock form. Where rock is defined as a naturally occurring solid mass of aggregate of minerals. Rocks are usually divided into three forms known by the name igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks and metamorphic rocks.
Hence diamond follows the property of being a rock so we can say diamond is also considered as rock.

Note: There are many uses of diamond. The one of the important and basic uses of diamonds is that it is used in jewelry due to its shiny appearance. It is one of the most costly metals in nature and known for the hardest metal in nature.