Talk:Metastability in molecules

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Will all diamonds eventually turn to graphite even at room temperature, as the article says? --Abdull 12:10, 24 July 2005 (UTC)

Mm, kind of, but not really. It's the difference between a thermodynamically-feasible reaction (which diamond-to-graphite is) and a kinetically-feasible reaction (which diamond-to-graphite is not). Exammple - oxygen and hydrogen, mixed together, will not spontaneously form water… unless you give them a spark to get started - then all of a sudden, BLAM, they fall together into water molecules. Or, for a more concrete example, consider a Jenga game. A highly-convoluted form may be less stable than the pieces-all-scattered form, but will a stable HC form spontaneously collapse into the PAS form? Or can it stay standing as long as no one touches it? Do you see the similarity here? The three-dimensional diamond lattice won't spontaneously collapse into the two-dimensional graphite grid; it has to be nudged, hard. In fact, it's been calculated that this nudge would have to be so hard that, for it to happen spontaneously at room temperature is so unlikely, it would take longer than the age of the universe. That, basically, is what metastable means. I'll try to sketch up some images later on, to make it a bit clearer. DS 12:40, 24 July 2005 (UTC)

That's a nice description but, I just want to point out, hydrogren will in fact spontaneously combust in oxygen. Robbiemuffin (talk) 02:33, 29 March 2008 (UTC)