Question

Is diamond the hardest mineral on Earth?

Answer 1

Diamond is an allotrope of carbon.

Diamonds are classically considered as a hardest mineral on the earth. The hardest term is used for the diamond is due to some important facts, some of them are given below -

• Strong covalent bond between carbon atoms.
• Due to strong bonding, the melting point (approximately $4000°\mathrm{C}$) of diamond is very very high.
• Carbon of diamond is ${\mathrm{sp}}^3$ hybridized which means a single bond is there between the carbon.
• Diamond has tetrahedral geometry in which each carbon atom is bonded to four other carbon atoms.
• The structure of the diamond is shown below-

Hence, diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance found on earth,