Question

Give reason
Diamond is covalent, yet it has a high melting point.

Answer 1

Hint: The high melting point structures are very compact structures and breaking the bonds between their two atoms is hard. One can think about the lattice structure of a diamond and give the specific reason for the high melting point of the diamond.

Complete step by step answer:
1) First of all, we will discuss the structure of diamonds. Diamond is a structure in which there are only carbon atoms present and they are bonded by a covalent bond to each other.
2) Now when the diamond is present in the solid-state it shows the crystal lattice structure which means the atoms are attached to each other by a very compact covalent bonding.
3) This also means that when the diamond is in its solid state it has very strong covalent bonding between the carbon atoms present in the structure.
4) the solid structure of a diamond has a 3D network of atomic structures present in it which also involves very strong covalent bonding between the carbon atoms.
5) This very strong covalent bonding makes the diamond structure more compact and breaking the bond between the two carbon atoms needs relatively very high energy. The need for high energy means the structure needs a very high temperature to melt its structural bonding making the melting point of diamond high.
6) Therefore, despite being the diamond covalent, it has a high melting point.

Note:
Diamond is nothing but the solid form of carbon elements which has only one type of element arranged in a crystal structure called a diamond cubic structure. The diamond material has the highest thermal conductivity and hardness among all the natural materials present on earth. Due to these properties, they are used in industries for precise cutting and polishing purposes.