Question: What are the partials like in hard and soft matireals and how do you tell the difference?

Elizabeth Cooper answered on 19 Mar 2015:

The particles in hard and soft materials can be the same however it depends on the structure of these particles which deems if the material is hard or soft.

Take diamond and graphite. Both materials are only made up of carbon atoms however diamond is one of the strongest materials whereas graphite is soft.
Carbon atoms in graphite are bonded in layers with only weak bonds holding the layers together making the material soft. The carbon atoms in diamond are rearranged differently and are more strongly bonded which is why diamond is so hard.