JEE Main Chemistry question

Graphite is a good conductor of current but diamond is a non-conductor because:

(A)Diamond is hard and graphite is soft
(B)Graphite and diamond have different atomic configurations
(C)Graphite is composed of positively charged carbon ions
(D)Graphite has a hexagonal layer structure with mobile -electrons while diamond has a continuous tetrahedral covalent structure with no free electronsCorrect

Answer: (D)

Solution

In graphite, each carbon is hybridised, leaving one unhybridised electron per atom delocalised into a mobile -electron system across each hexagonal sheet, enabling electrical conduction; in diamond, every carbon is hybridised and all four

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Question ID VK-138777