Richard Fein

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.