[pnacze199204]

Hello

Wikipedia says:

"Diamond is the hardest known natural material on both the Vickers scale and the Mohs scale. Diamond's great hardness relative to other materials has been known since antiquity, and is the source of its name. This does not mean that it is infinitely hard, indestructible, or unscratchable. Indeed, diamonds can be scratched by other diamonds and worn down over time even by softer materials, such as vinyl records."

How long would it take to wipe a diamond visibly by simply touching it for several hours each day? What about phones glass? We use it every day, but we can't see any difference. Does that mean that the materials are abraded but very very slowly? How long would it take to wipe a phone screen off visibly?

Thank you!

[chenbeier]

Some hundred years.

[Corribus]

Haven't you asked this question before?

[pnacze199204]

Would glass wear faster than diamond or it doesn't matter what material it is? I am interested in how a hard material is abraded by a soft material like human skin. I know stone floors are rubbing off over the years, but on top of that there are various other factors, for example- pollution, chemical reactions (they're not as inert as diamonds or glass). If a diamond were to rub over a period of several hundred years, then how are very tiny diamonds found in alluvial deposits (and their age is estimated at millions of years)? What about glass that we use on a daily basis? We don't see how it wears out? Does using a glass every day mean that millions of quartz atoms end up in my body?

[billnotgatez]

... Does using a glass every day mean that millions of quartz atoms end up in my body?

As an aside - I am betting we all eat sand as a result of it being in our food in small amounts.

[pnacze199204]

Does the glass on a smartphone screen get thinner over time the more you touch it? Let's say our smartphone has a sapphire glass that is very scratch resistant, but we're using it every single day. How long would it take before we would see any noticeable difference in the thickness of the glass? Is it a slow process or would we see the effect during our life without any problem? Thank you!