Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1915-12-06
CARBON A PUZZLE
The Mystery That Links a Dia-
mond to a Lump Of Graphite.
A SECRET OF THE MOLECULES,

Why Exactly the Same elements Form
eueh Different Substances 10 the Rid.
dls--chsnpinp Mass Of Charcoal
Into a Minute but Pure Gem.
Carbon. ono OF the seventy or eighty
primary elements out Of which all mat
tor n formed. occurs, pure. In two en-
tirely different and contrastcd forms
These nre, FIRST. diamond and second,
graphite or plun,bago pencil Lead. u
each VI those Substances was u com
pound or mixture OF different c'cmentS.
comprising IN both cnscs carbon as the
principal constituent thcrc would be no
cauge for mystIDcaliop, a,ut they arc
absolutely tho salne unnnlxed thing. a.
though IN appearance and ~ propertic1
they are totally unlike.
The molecules ~ each are tho samc
they ure molecules of carbon. and moth
Ing clse--but IN one the molecules nrc
10 arranged that they form transpar
ent. excessively hard, solid crystal. Ell
dowed With marvellous powers Of re-
frictlng light which make Il the most
dazzling OF all gems, and. In the other.
the sumo molecules are NO arranged
that they form q dull. soft black or
gray substance that leaves a dirty
streak when rubbed upon paper.
The secret lies wltlip them. II II In
the internal play os the molecular
forces. bur what liakes those forces
act NO differently when they have pre-
cisely the saue material 70 work upon?
Burn diamond aud Il Turns 20 graph.
ite.
Charcoal u y third form Of earbop.
ordinarily produced by tho chnrripg OF
wood. whereby all the other elements
contained IN the wood are removed.
leavin. the carbon IN the form OF
soft. blnck substance which. In some
ways, resembles graphite,
Charcoal and few slmilar sub
stances are cnlied amornhous, or
''shapelcss" carbon. because they arc
never crystallized. us diamond always.
and graphite sometimes. H. ye, char
coal. too. has the royal diamond blood
Tint blood sometimes sits on the
throne and sometimes slaves In tho
mine: but despite the turn ~ chance
below. Il In always itself
Charcoal can turn 10 diamond. and
the things that make II turn are great
beat combined with great pressure
Here. In outline. IN the process. ns 1t
has been performed IN laboratories. OK
peclally by the frpch chemist, Aiois
san: Into mass Of molten Iron u
quantity ~ pure charcoal Is pui, Then
the liquid iron, which dlssolvcs the
charcoal very much ns water dissolves
sugar. n placed IN an electric furnace
aud heated IN II temperature Of nearly
5000 degrees r Immediately II IL
plunged into cold water, IN order to
cause quick cooling,
The result OF the sudden cooling is
the formation OF u solidlicd shell on
the surface OF the iron which power
fully congresses the interior part,
when Il In rurn c0ols and tries 20 ex.
pand. The result OF this compression
~ to force the imprisoned carbon (char.
conlJ TO crystallizc into diamond. II
the molten iron IL allowed to cool at
ordinary pressure the charcoal only
turns 10 graphite. So we see that the
magic wand whose touch makes dia'
mond OF what would otherwise be
mere duh pencil lead is the wand OF
high pressure.
II n believed that this Is substan.
tally the way In which nature herself
makes diamonds. In the great dia.
mond mines of south Africa there IL
evidence that the gems were formed
In tho bowels OF ancient and long since
extinct volcanoes, where, Of course,
both intense heat and enormous pres
sure were available in unlimited Quan'
titles. But nature In her huge volcanic
laboratories works on scale which
we cannot initiate, 80 that there Is no
cause for surprise In the fact that,
while she can make diamonds rs big
M WuMlHtp Nhtu Nht NhVNotot wv NHs'
make none even as big as n pins head
The largest artificial diamond Is less
than q milllmeter In diameter, But It
is genuine diamond. and with that fact
10 start With, who can say what may
DO done some day?
There are number of meteors which
have fullcn upon the earth from outer
space that contain microscopic dia'
months assembling the artificial ones
Meme OF them Is large enough TO be Of
any Importance except as scientific
c,sfiosties. but MS such they I'LL the
mind with wonder Where and how
y werS they created--in what world or
what starr
! mo principal metals found in me
tcors nrc iron and nickel. with occa'
Aionnl traces Of cobalt "copper" alumi
mum tin nnd magnesium. Garrett r.
jSergiss III New York Journal.
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