Lonsdaleite is formed within meteorites and found when the meteorites land on earth. This is another alltrope of carbon, but with a different -- Hexagonal dihexagonal dipyramidal -- crystal structure.
It is always softer than a diamond, because a diamond's crystal structure maximizes the carbon's valance -- four -- into its rigid tetrahedral network of covalent bonds on eight sides.
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∙ 9y agoThe crystalline structure of graphite and diamond are very different.
it is softer
On the scale of hardness, the Mohs scale, diamond is the hardest substance and is rated at 10, the highest rating for hardness. Window glass is rated at 5.5, softer than diamond. Read more about the Mohs Scale, below.
it is silver
Diamonds are formed naturally deep within the earth's mantle under high pressure and temperature resulting in a bonded matrix that forms the hardest natural mineral on earth. Glass is made with sand, soda ash, dolomite, and limestone, softer materials than diamond.
Wurtzite Boron Nitride (w-BN) is a bit harder and stronger than diamonds. However, lonsdaleite (also called Hexagonal Diamond) is 58% harder than a diamond!
No, the hardest material known is diamond. Edit: Actually, diamond is only the hardest material which occurs naturally in macroscopic crystalline form. While the lonsdaleite found in meteorite craters has a Mohs hardness of about 7-8 (as opposed to diamond's 10), this is due to impurities and imperfections. It has been calculated that a pure lonsdaleite crystal would be 58% harder than diamond. Similarly, a crystal of wurtzite boron nitride would also be harder than diamond, although a method of producing such crystals is still to be found.
There is noneAnswer:There are two naturally occurring materials harder than normal diamonds:The first, wurtzite boron nitride has a similar structure to diamond, but is made up of different atoms. It is formed during volcanic eruptions that produce very high temperatures and pressures. Wurtzide boron nitride can withstand 18% more stress than diamond,The second, lonsdaleite, or hexagonal diamond is made from carbon atoms just like diamond, but they are arranged in a different shape. Lonsdaleite is sometimes formed when meteorites containing graphite hit Earth. It is estimated that lonsdaleite 58% more stress than diamond..
Diamond,Graphite,Lonsdaleite, Buckminsterfullerene
all minerals
The crystalline structure of graphite and diamond are very different.
Diamond has always been considered the hardest natural substance in the world. However, wurtzite boron nitride and mineral lonsdaleite have recently been discoverd and are much harder than diamond.
It is a very hard naturally formed material that is 58 percent harder then diamond. btw my IQ is 140 :DIt is a derivative substance of graphite on meteorites when they hit the earth. The pressure and heat on the graphite turn it into lonsdaleite, when entering the earth's atmosphere. And my IQ is above 140 :P.
Diamond is the hardest known natural mineral on earth, raking top or 10 on the Mohs Scale of hardness. Copper ranks 2.5-3 on the same scale, rating it as much softer than diamond.
Harder..One of the hardest things in the natural world.
The second hardest substance in the world is mineral lonsdaleite, or hexagonal diamond. It's made up from the same materials as diamonds, but it has a slightly different structor. Mineral lonsdaleite is extremely rare in nature.
Lonsdaleite, diamond, and wurtzide boron nitrid. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16610-diamond-no-longer-natures-hardest-material.html