• Question: can you pressurize the groung with rasers -expreme pressure- to form a diamond?

    Asked by hophappy to Mike, Pip, Tianfu, Tim, Tom on 3 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Kind of, yes!

      There are a number of laboratories around the world (look at the NOVA laser on the homepage of the laser zone) where they try to use lasers to recreate conditions just after the big-bang with lasers. This means creating very high pressures and temperatures, which could form diamond.

    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      There is a little bit of force/pressure caused by light, but you need a lot of light to produce even a little bit of pressure. To build such a strong laser and run it would be much more expensive than buying a diamond, but it is possible!

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