Describe why diamond is hard and graphite is soft?


Diamond and graphite both only have carbons and have covalent bonding involved.Diamond has a giant covalent lattaice and each carbon atom is bonded to 4 other carbon atoms.Graphite on the other hand is formed in layers and each carbon is bonded to 3 other carbon atoms. As a result there will be an extra unbonded electron thus forming a sea of delocalised electrons.
Graphite is soft because it has weak inter molecular forces between its layers.Diamond is hard due to its giant covalent lattice and it has many strong covalent bonds.

MS
Answered by Muhammad Saleem R. Chemistry tutor

72190 Views

See similar Chemistry GCSE tutors

Related Chemistry GCSE answers

All answers ▸

Potassium and Sulfur form an ionic compound, how does this happen?


How can I work out which gas is released when ethanoic acid is reacted with sodium?


Explain how melting and boiling points are influenced by intermolecular forces


What is the volume of carbon dioxide released at room temperature and pressure when 6.2 g of copper carbonate reacts with excess dilute sulfuric acid?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact ustelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

MyTutor is part of the IXL family of brands:

© 2026 by IXL Learning