Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Black Diamond ??

It is unfortunate that the human race was not born knowing everything. All that is known by mankind has been learned a bit at a time.

A fine example of this is that we call the black center of a pencil "the Lead". This is because in the 18th century even the greatest scientists did not know that it was a form of carbon called graphite, and not a compound of lead. Even today, many people do not know that graphite and diamond are chemically identical.

And that brings us to "black diamond". Diamonds come in many colors, the transparent diamonds of any color have significant value. The black diamonds are commonly called industrial diamonds, and do not have the value of the transparent stones. Black diamonds are used in drill bits to cut through rock, or may be ground into cutting tools for the machining of metals.

There is another naturally occurring substance that is sometimes called "black diamond". It is an oxide of Iron called "gamma Hematite". It is readily found around Mount Vesuvius in Italy, a still active volcano, and carved by local craftsmen into jewlery.

And now, as you may have guessed, most hematites are magnetic. This fine black hematite can be magnetized into a fairly strong magnet. It is often ground into oval or spherical shapes and sold as "Rattlesnake eggs".

These hematite "eggs", being as hard and smooth as glass, will bounce off of each other when allowed to collide under their magnetic attraction, and then be pulled back together to collide again and again.
This rattle is the source of the name "rattlesnake eggs".

If you are so inclined, they can also be cut and ground into jewlery.

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