Introduction:
   The Earth's interior is able to be studied in various ways.  Xenoliths provide a source of direct  information by providing scientists with rock samples from the Earth's interior.  The study of seismology  is a direct but inferred process which provides interpretations of  vibrations that pass through the Earth's interior. An indirect method for the study is by performing high pressure and high temperature laboratory experiments.  In our experiment, we attempted to turn graphite into diamonds using high pressure equipment. Diamonds are metastable at atmospheric pressure therefore we tried to imitate the conditions in which diamonds form. We created a high pressure and high temperature environment, similar to that  found in the upper mantle.  The temperature necessary for diamonds to form is at least 1,350 degrees Centigrade  and the pressure is 57,000 times that of the atmosphere.  It took approximately an hour to prepare the sample.  The high pressure and high temperature process lasted for five hours but the actual period for the formation of diamonds was only fifteen minutes.

SETUP:
   Curious about how we made diamonds? This is how we synthesized them. We took eight tungsten cubes and separated them with balsa wood and gaskets. This provided a cozy hole (tetrahedron) in the center, where the sample was placed. The sample was composed of three graphite disks sandwiched in four layers of a nickel-manganese powder catalyst. The eight cubes were kept intact by laminated plastic squares. There were copper electrodes placed between the plastic and cubes number three and eight. The electrodes provided an electric current that heated the sample. The entire assembly was placed in the Kennedy Press and slowly raised to an ideal pressure of 57 kilobars over the duration of five hours. When this pressure was reached, the temperature rapidly increased to 1350⁰ C. After the ideal conditions were met, we were able to create diamonds in fifteen minutes!!

Results:

Our experiment was successful.  We waited in anticipation as the last pieces of plastic were removed from the tungsten carbide cubes.  The cubes were taken apart, and the octahedron that was holding the diamonds was broken into small pieces.   Inside, there were some particles that we could not immediately determine to be diamond by simply examining them.  In order to determine the presence of diamonds, we performed the following tests.  We attempted to scratch a cube of tungsten carbide with some of the small diamonds.  Since diamond is hardest substance known to man, it should have been able to scratch  tungsten carbide, a very hard substance.   Through careful observation with a microscope, we were able to detect trace amounts of diamonds.   In addition, we were able to observe the scratches on the tungsten carbide cube.  There are several substances harder than tungsten carbide, but the materials that make up these substances were not used.  Therefore, scratches present must have been caused by diamond.  Overall, creating diamonds was a fun and exciting process.