### Author:  [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2009, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/21 "2009-07-25T09:45:13Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> By apes, certainly, but not all apes are gorillas.
Agreed. Now if he’d said chimps…
- NAITA (Pan Narrans)
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### Author:  [@Master\_Cylinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Cylinder)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2009, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/22 "2009-07-25T12:11:39Z")
Temperature is easy enough, there’s a dependable source of heat 93 million miles away which would do nicely. Applying steady, even pressure to the coal/graphite is a little trickier, but I don’t see that being beyond Supes abilities. The problem, of course, is that this ruins the whole scenario where Superman picks up a lump of coal and squeezes it into a diamond while Lois is watching. Therefore, I envision something like this happens instead.
SUPERMAN picks up a lump of coal while Lois watches in dewy-eyed admiration.
SUPERMAN: (surprised, looking over Lois’ shoulder) Lex Luthor!
LOIS LANE: (alarmed, turning quickly) Luthor? Where!?
(SUPERMAN takes advantage of the misdirection to quickly swap out the lump of coal for a diamond he had previously hidden in his tights) Nevermind, it’s just a bald guy. Here, this diamond is for you!
Penn and Teller could do this easily. I don’t see why Superman can’t as well.
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2009, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/23 "2009-07-25T14:23:28Z")
FTR, in the process of helping Cecil with this column, I found the following instances where Superman or someone closely related to him did squeeze coal into diamond. It’s not a comprehensive list, of course.
_Comics:_
Action Comics #138, November, 1949
Superboy #65, May/June 1958
Superman #127, February, 1959
Superman #196, May, 1967
Note that in Superman 218 (July, 1969) a super child named Carl squeezes coal into diamonds.
Action Comics, #491, January, 1979
Superman – Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, 1986
Superman – True Brit, December, 2004 (note he crashes the economy by turning coal into diamonds).
JLA: The Secret Society of Super-Heroes (Book 1), November, 2006
_Films:_
Superman III
_Television:_
1953: The Jungle Devil
Smallville – Season 5, Episode 12 (2005-2006)
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### Author:  [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2009, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/24 "2009-07-25T18:20:30Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#):
>
> FTR, in the process of helping Cecil with this column, I found the following instances where Superman or someone closely related to him did squeeze coal into diamond. It’s not a comprehensive list, of course. \Note that in Superman 218 (July, 1969) a super child named Carl squeezes coal into diamonds.
Was that the one where Superman figured out that it was all a trick staged by Mister Mxyzptlk when Superman’s “son” squeezes coal into _faceted cut-gem_ diamonds?
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2009, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/25 "2009-07-25T20:51:05Z")
> [@Lumpy](#):
>
> Was that the one where Superman figured out that it was all a trick staged by Mister Mxyzptlk when Superman’s “son” squeezes coal into _faceted cut-gem_ diamonds?
I honestly do not recall, and I no longer have the comic in front of me. That doesn’t sound familiar, however - it could be another instance.
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### Author:  [@spywholoved](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spywholoved)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2009, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/26 "2009-07-26T04:50:37Z")
Seems like Cecil let Una get him distracted! The answer to the original question is “no” twice over, and Cecil and Una agreed on it…“someone [who] had unlimited strength” can’t squeeze a lump of coal into a diamond because coal can’t be squeezed into diamonds, period, and pressure alone isn’t enough.
now if a person with unlimited strength had graphite and the ability to withstand the high enough temperatures… I gotta think they should be able to get a least a teeny diamond somewhere within the remains of a hand-sized chunk of graphite.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [July 26, 2009, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/27 "2009-07-26T23:43:09Z")
Yeah, but a handful of teeny industrial diamonds ain’t gonna pay the bills, or impress the ladies. You need to be able to create gem quality diamonds or nobody cares.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2009, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/28 "2009-07-27T12:02:59Z")
Why stop at diamonds? Just keep squeezing and make a mini-black hole. Guaranteed to break the ice at parties.
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### Author:  [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)
#### Post date: [July 27, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/29 "2009-07-27T15:40:36Z")
> [@spywholoved](#):
>
> Seems like Cecil let Una get him distracted! The answer to the original question is “no” twice over, and Cecil and Una agreed on it…“someone [who] had unlimited strength” can’t squeeze a lump of coal into a diamond because coal can’t be squeezed into diamonds, period, and pressure alone isn’t enough.
>
> now if a person with unlimited strength had graphite and the ability to withstand the high enough temperatures… I gotta think they should be able to get a least a teeny diamond somewhere within the remains of a hand-sized chunk of graphite.
At a minimum, you would also need some way to protect your hands. Superman uses his power of invulnerability as well as strength.
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### Author:  [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)
#### Post date: [July 28, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/30 "2009-07-28T19:44:41Z")
Couldn’t Superman simply take that piece of coal, fly around the sun in a counter clockwise motion until he goes back in time when the Earth was being created, bury that lump of coal near a volcanic tube, fly back around the sun in a clockwise direction, unbury the lump of coal, and have a diamond?
That’s a lot simpler than trying to squeeze the lump of coal into a diamond.
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### Author:  [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/31 "2009-07-29T16:21:19Z")
According to the Superman movie (the first one), he goes back in time by _spinning the Earth in reverse_. :dubious::rolleyes:😕
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2009, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/32 "2009-07-29T19:10:28Z")
I always figured that was just the graphical representation of Superman going back in time by moving faster than light. I mean, if he reversed the spin of the Earth, it would cause lots of destruction, as things moving up to 1000mpg (at the equator) came to a screeching halt. Plus, what is the mechanism for his flying to slow the Earth – the interaction between his body and the upper atmosphere? That would seem to generate more heat than anything else.
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### Author:  [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/33 "2009-07-29T19:23:06Z")
Wow, the Earth gets great gas mileage.
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### Author:  [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/34 "2009-07-29T19:53:52Z")
Heh. 1000 mp **h**. Sorry.
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### Author:  [@Lestrade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lestrade)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/35 "2009-07-30T17:52:26Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#):
>
> See:
>
> Suits, C.G. “Man-Made Diamonds-A Progress Report.” _Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society_, 108.5 (1964): 443-449.
>
> Look specifically for the image at the top of page 445. Alas the image is in black and white.
Thanks Una. Hey, look, I found the [picture in question](http://imgur.com/FNOHD.png) on [imgur.com](http://imgur.com). Superman could totally do that.
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### Author:  [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2009, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/36 "2009-07-30T18:50:27Z")
Could Superman swallow a lump of coal, and then pass a diamond?
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### Author:  [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/37 "2009-07-30T21:15:35Z")
> [@SeanArenas](#):
>
> Could Superman swallow a lump of coal, and then pass a diamond?
Yes - if he’s prepared.
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### Author:  [@SeanArenas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeanArenas)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/38 "2009-07-31T02:21:21Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#):
>
> Yes - if he’s prepared.
How do you prepare for something like that?
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### Author:  [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2009, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/39 "2009-07-31T03:34:56Z")
**Lots** of fiber!
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [July 31, 2009, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-had-super-strength-could-i-squeeze-coal-into-diamonds/504121/40 "2009-07-31T08:58:18Z")
Preparation D
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