What type of bond is responsible for the hardness and stability of diamond's crystal lattice?

What type of bond is responsible for the hardness and stability of diamond's crystal lattice?

• A. Ionic
• B. Metallic
• C. Hydrogen
• D. Covalent

Answer: (D)

Diamond’s hardness and stability come from a covalent network of carbon atoms. Each carbon forms four strong covalent bonds with neighbors in a tetrahedral arrangement, extending in all directions to make a continuous three-dimensional lattice. Because these bonds are both very strong and highly directional, many of them must be broken to deform or scratch the material, giving diamond its exceptional hardness and resistance to heat and chemicals. Other bond types don’t account for this combination: ionic bonds lead to brittle, charge-based lattices; metallic bonds produce malleable, sea-of-electrons metals; hydrogen bonds are far weaker and can’t hold a dense, rigid network. The network of strong covalent bonds throughout the diamond lattice is what makes it so hard and stable.

Diamond’s hardness and stability come from a covalent network of carbon atoms. Each carbon forms four strong covalent bonds with neighbors in a tetrahedral arrangement, extending in all directions to make a continuous three-dimensional lattice. Because these bonds are both very strong and highly directional, many of them must be broken to deform or scratch the material, giving diamond its exceptional hardness and resistance to heat and chemicals. Other bond types don’t account for this combination: ionic bonds lead to brittle, charge-based lattices; metallic bonds produce malleable, sea-of-electrons metals; hydrogen bonds are far weaker and can’t hold a dense, rigid network. The network of strong covalent bonds throughout the diamond lattice is what makes it so hard and stable.