Does A Real Diamond Sparkle Rainbow?

Does a real diamond sparkle rainbow? – When we started to appreciate nature and started studying the various phenomena of nature, we segregated the study into different subjects. These subjects were based on how we interact with nature, and how we studied the basic functioning of the universe.

There were so many different things that we didn’t know, and there are a lot of things that we still don’t know yet. However, if we look into the topics that we already know, a Californian study has revealed that it would take about 420 years to study everything.

If we keep science on the basis of how everything works, it is divided into four different subjects. 

The first and the most important subject is math. Math is the language of the universe. With math, we can study various problems, and figure out how we can use numbers to solve everything.

The second important subject would be biology. Biology helps us to understand how living beings function. Physics, the third subject, is also very important to understand natural phenomena.

If we didn’t figure out what caused things to fall, or what is the wavelength of light, or how things float, we won’t be able to build anything in this world. Chemistry, a branch of science that deals with the study of molecules, atoms, compounds and different things, is my favorite subject. 

When we study the allotropes of carbon, Graphite, Fullerene, Diamond, and Coal are the four different allotropes of carbon. Diamond is one of the most sought after allotrope, due to its rarity and appearance.

Diamond is also one of the hardest materials on Earth, and we use it to cut other diamonds, rocks, steel, etc. There are a lot of things that separates a fake diamond from a real diamond.

The light that is refracted inside the diamond is one of the things that differentiates a real diamond with a fake diamond. Let us look into this and the refraction of a rainbow inside a diamond, in a question and answer format.

Questions related to the refraction of light, and the formation of rainbow inside the diamond:-

 What is a diamond?

 If you’re really searching for what is a diamond in literal terms, then you must come out of your cave and discover the world. Let me tell you something you don’t know. If I say that diamonds are one of the most expensive and beautiful elements in the world, you would say that this is something that everybody knows.

So, let me go on to the molecular structure of carbon, and how diamond is formed. Diamond is an allotrope of carbon. When we talk about allotropy, we mean that carbon can exist in different forms because of a property called catenation.

This property helps carbon to form various structures, and helps it to achieve a certain shape and form. Diamond is also one of the three famous allotropes of carbon which are famous, and other two of them are coal and graphite.

If you don’t know where diamonds come from, let me tell you that diamonds are not mined specifically, but they are formed under immense pressure from the bowels of the earth. A coal is what is turned into a diamond, and during the mining of coal, diamonds are discovered.

As mentioned before, diamonds are the hardest substance in nature, and it is used to cut various materials. Diamonds show many physical properties, and various experiments are performed on diamond to determine its carat and purity. Regarding the rainbow formation, it’s a type of refraction of light. 

Does a real diamond sparkle a rainbow?

The short answer is no. But of course I cannot end this question by just giving a one word answer. Let me explain how diamonds reflect light. Have you ever seen a rainbow forming in the sky just after a shower and soft sunlight?

Do you know how rainbows form? If you do not know, let me tell you that it is due to the property of refraction and internal reflection of light. A small raindrop typically acts like a prism, and the white light from the sun (you might be confused about the light from the sun, as it looks yellow, but is this actually white) hits the small water droplet and is refracted inside the raindrop.

Then it gets reflected again inside the raindrop, and then refracts outside. This double refraction and internal reflection leads to the formation of a rainbow, because white light is scattered into seven different colors namely violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.

When we talk about diamonds, they do have internal reflections and refractions, but the amount of refraction present inside the diamond is far greater than any rain drop. A single diamond can refract light up to 100 times inside, and as the light that is refracted and reflected inside the diamond, it comes out to be white or gray.

This is why if a diamond refracts and reflects HB a rainbow inside, or there is a sparkle of rainbow inside the diamond, it is declared to be a fake. Diamonds do reflect and refract light, but it is of white color and it is termed as brilliance. This brilliance of diamonds is even calculated to check the purity of the diamond.

Why do you see sparkling inside the diamond?

If you see a diamond right in front of you, and you shake it a bit, you would see rainbows forming on the diamond. This would negate every sentence mentioned above, and you would be scared that your diamond is fake.

However sparkling is not restricted to internal reflections and refractions, but it can also be done on the surface as well. If you carefully look inside the diamond, you would see that there is a grayish white light which is being reflected inside the diamond.

As mentioned before, this is known as brilliance. However diamonds can also refract and reflect colorful lights, and it depends upon the source. This refraction and reflection however would only be restricted to the surface of the diamond and not internally.

Even if you shine light inside the diamond, it would show up to be whitish or grayish, due to continuous reflection and refractions. Now when we talk about outside the diamond, you would see rainbows forming just on to the surface of the diamonds, and you can even see colors of light on the surface.

This is known as the fire of the diamond, and this fire is also used to determine purity. The cut and carat of the diamond is also important in determining its purity, and when we talk about the color of the diamond, we don’t want any color.