Re: How do diamonds get their color?

Timberwoof wrote:
In article <135cjc1r35hi3aa@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Jo Schaper <jospamnotschaper34@5socket78dot9net> wrote:

astrobot1 wrote:
How do diamonds get their color? I know it's because of impurities,
but what is the mechanism behind it? Is it similar to gases, where
electrons are are jumping from a higher state to a lower state. Or is
it because a standing wave of a particular color can be sustained
between two nuclei, which act as anodes?

Or could it be because that is the color of the impurities?

Well, no. Carbon is black, but diamonds have no color.

The reason diamonds are transparent is that their atoms are nicely lined up, and photons can find ways to travel though them in straight lines. Impurities or imperfections in the crystal lattice make that possible only for certain wavelengths of light. The particular color has more to do with the resulting crystal structure than the color of the impurities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond_color

Go back and read the article again. Nitrogen, boron, and so on....

Also, try this link: http://www.emporia.edu/earthsci/amber/go340/students/flax/fancy.htm

Emporia State University Earth Sciences Dept is likely a more reliable source than Wikipedia.
.