• Question: what the strongest crystals

    Asked by KSI Ronaldo to Elizabeth, James, Martin, Rob on 19 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: James Coombs OBrien

      James Coombs OBrien answered on 19 Mar 2015:

      The strongest crystal that we can make enough of and turn into useful things it diamond.

      Diamond is made up of carbon (the same stuff as coal!) which sticks together in a very specific, well ordered way. This make diamond really really tough! We use diamond to make really strong drills and cutting equipment because it can cut through most things.

      A material that may be stronger than diamond is called Wurtzite boron nitride. It has been suggested it could be up to 58% stronger. It is formed in volcanoes at really high temperature and pressure. The only problem is that there is not enough of it. This means we can’t make anything out of it or even properly test its strength!

      Thanks a lot!

    • Photo: Elizabeth Cooper

      Elizabeth Cooper answered on 20 Mar 2015:

      The hardest most common material known is diamond. Diamond is made up entirely of the element carbon.

      However work is being completed at the minute on another chemical wurtzite boron nitride. It has a similar structure to diamond, but is made up of different atoms. Lab work completed by scientist showed that wurtzide boron nitride would withstand 18 per cent more stress than diamond.

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