# Diamonds and X-Rays

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamonds-and-x-rays/188590>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 15, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamonds-and-x-rays/188590 "2003-07-15T05:49:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamonds-and-x-rays/188590/1 "2003-07-15T05:49:54Z")

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Alright, stupid question of the week time…do Diamonds show up on X-Rays?

I’d guess “yes,” but I really wouldn’t know for sure.

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamonds-and-x-rays/188590/2 "2003-07-15T07:58:53Z")

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This link might be of interest to you:  
[http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/xray-cmt/rivers/diamonds.html](http://www-fp.mcs.anl.gov/xray-cmt/rivers/diamonds.html)

Also, Google Image Search has several images of what _appear_ to be x-rayed diamonds. Whether they really are, I don’t know…  
[http://images.google.com/images?q=diamond+x-ray](http://images.google.com/images?q=diamond+x-ray)

Sorry, wish I could be more certain about it.

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**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamonds-and-x-rays/188590/3 "2003-07-15T08:11:01Z")

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don’t they use x-rays to prevent theft in diamond mines? yes i believe they would show up.

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**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\
**Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diamonds-and-x-rays/188590/4 "2003-07-15T11:18:04Z")

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I am not a bag X-ray xpert but-  
X-ray crystallography is used to determine the internal structure of any crystal;  
it involves fixing and orienting the crystal in a narrow beam of x-rays and recording the diffraction pattern.  
This means the X-rays are affected by crystalline objects so should be able to detect them.  
So an x-ray scan of a bag containing any crystals should show them as dark shapes, perhaps with the occasional diffraction effect.

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SF worldbuilding at  
[http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html](http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html)