Q45 / 160 · JIPMER 2005 · Chemistry

Graphite is soft while diamond is hard because

  • A
    diamond has $s p^2$ hybridisation but graphite has $s p^3$ hybridisation
  • Correct answer
    B
    graphite is in planar form while diamond is in tetrahedral form
  • C
    graphite is covalent and diamond is ionic
  • D
    graphite is in powder form

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.

Hence, the correct answer is option: 'B'.

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