JIPMER2005Chemistryp Block Elements (Group 13 & 14)
Graphite is soft while diamond is hard because
Options
- Adiamond has s p^2 hybridisation but graphite has s p^3 hybridisation
- Bgraphite is in planar form while diamond is in tetrahedral form
- Cgraphite is covalent and diamond is ionic
- Dgraphite is in powder form
Correct answer
B. graphite is in planar form while diamond is in tetrahedral form
Step-by-step solution
In diamond each carbon atom is s p^3 hybridised and is joined to each other by strong covalent bond to form a tetrahedral structure. While in graphite carbon atoms form planar, hexagonal rings to give it a sheet like structure. Each sheet is joined to each other by weak van der Waal force. Hence diamond is harder than graphite.