Diamonds are made of carbon, why it is transparent and not black?

Question

Diamonds are made of carbon, why it is transparent and not black?

Answer 1

Glass is made of silicon (silicium).

Every solid matter is transparent in one or another range of wave length. Glass and diamonds are transparent in a 'visible' range. In other ranges they are opaque.

Answer 2

Being black doesn't guarantee an object isn't  transparent. Check out Al Sharpton, he's black but very transparent.

Answer 3

The carbon crust that forms on the outside of your hot dog or marshmallow when you burn it on the campfire is not quite the same form as the carbon in a diamond. It's kind of loose, and disorganized, as well as full of impurities. With a little bit of pressure, such carbon could theoretically be formed into sheets of carbon atoms, slightly more pure, called graphite.

The lead in your pencil isn't lead, it's graphite, which explains why my sister didn't get lead poisoning when she accidentally stuck a pencil up her nose as a kid, and it pierced her nostril. She did worry about lead poisoning for years, though. She's in her forties, and a medical doctor, but you can still see a tiny blue spot on her nose!

A diamond crystal becomes both hard and transparent through the more perfect alignment of carbon atoms within a crystal matrix. In nature this normally happens deep within the earth under great pressure. Most diamonds are associated with volcanoes, though some are made in the laboratory. With the atoms neatly stacked it's easier for light to pass through and much more difficult to break, unless you manage to cleave the planes.

Answer 4

very funny.it is not made up of carbon,its a form of carbon.

Answer 5

graphite is made of carbon.  Why is it black and not transparent?  Same question, different perspective.

In effect, you are asking why anything is colored opaque or transparent, and that relates to the way atoms organize in the substance and the energies of the bonds.