A BRIEF LECTURE ON THE PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY
OF THE DIAMOND


Three degrees of freedom in chemistry
means that an atom, usually unbonded,
is free to move in three dimensions.

A diamond
is homogeneous, made of bonded carbon atoms
and no others.
With huge amounts of pressure, over many years,
the atoms are pressed together to form a
perfect tetrahedral configuration--
which, in turn, forms a symmetry
with other perfect tetrahedral configurations--
creating a perfect crystal,
which is the world's hardest entity
and one of the most beautiful.
The degree of freedom for each individual carbon atom is
zero.

Richard Fein

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