In class, chemistry is described as the “central science.” What does this mean? Chemistry is the study of matter. Since everything that surrounds us is made up of matter in some form, we can think of chemistry as the study of everything. In other words, understanding chemistry is central to understanding everything! This isn’t just the pompous view of a few chemists. If you look at a variety of scientific disciplines (biology, geology, astronomy, environmental science, medicine, etc.) you find that chemistry coursework and an understanding of chemistry is required in order to understand these fields. You may not think that your career goal has much to do with chemistry, but you are part of a chemical world.

Understanding some basic chemistry can help you understand a lot about the world around you. Throughout the term, you will be directed to web sites and other sources of information to give you a flavor for the sorts of things that aren’t strictly chemistry, but have a clear chemistry connection. Let me give you a first example: Diamond is made up of a seemingly complex (but really rather simple) array of carbon atoms. In fact, except for minor impurities that are trapped in the diamond crystal, a diamond is nothing but pure carbon. Charcoal and graphite are also relatively pure forms of carbon. How can this be? It seems that diamond, charcoal and graphite are very different, yet they are all made up of carbon. Hmmmm.

To learn a bit more about diamonds, click on the word diamonds below to connect to Nova's web site at pbs.org. Also take a look at the recent article from Chemical & Engineering News (the second link: more about diamonds). After you check these out, come back to this page and answer the questions that follow.

Diamonds

More about Diamonds–Chemistry in the news.

First, a few really easy questions:

Question 1. What is the symbol for the element that is the main component of diamond?

Question 2. What happens when light passes through a diamond?

Questions 3. Why does light shinning through a diamond give you a rainbow of color?

Question 4. List the colors of the rainbow in order of increasing energy.

(HINT: You might format your answer like red<blue<green<etc. (Note: The order of these colors is incorrect.)

Now some questions that are a little more challenging:

Questions 5. Two basic procedures are used to create synthetic diamonds. What are the key features of these two approaches?

Questions 6. What elemental impurity produces a blue diamond? How many valence electrons does this element have? What role does the number of valence electrons play in the bonding of this element in the diamond lattice?

Note: From within the article on synthetic diamonds, click on the article "Improving on Nature" for information related to question 7.

Questions 7. List two ions whose presence as impurities in gemstones leads to color variations. Give the electron configuration for the two ions you listed. For example: Be2+, 1s^2.

If you are interested in history, the history of science, or just like to read about "disputes in science and industry" go to the article titled: WHODUNIT. There aren't any questions about the WHODUNIT article, but it presents an interesting glimpse into the work that led to production of the first synthetic diamond nearly 50 years ago in labs at General Electric.