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DIAMONDS AND GRAPHITES ARE COVALENT NETWORK SOLIDS BUT GRAPHITE CONDUCT ELECTRICITY WHY? |
Both diamond and graphite are bonded covalently and most covalent substances will not conduct electricity. Diamond contains entirely carbon-carbon single bonds and so the electrons basically stay between two atoms. Graphite is sometime represented as having alternate signal and double bond but this is not quite accurate. There are no definite single and double bonds but rather bonds that are in between. This property is called resonance. Because of this resonance the electrons are delocalized; they are not tied down to any pair of atoms and are free to move thought the structure. |