# Peanut butter microwave diamonds?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 2, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483 "2003-03-02T00:06:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/1 "2003-03-02T00:06:46Z")
According to [this](http://www.rangeguide.net/diamonds.htm) site, you can make diamonds at home with a microwave, some charcoal briquets, and some peanut butter.
> [@](#):
>
> Using a pyrex microwave cooking dish with lid, place two charcoal brickets covered with 4 ounces of peanut butter inside. Microwave on high for 60 minutes at 10 minute intercals.
>
> When cool enough to handle, take the dish outdoors and place on top of an unlit barbque grill. Remove the lid form the dish and saturate the charcoal and residue with charcoal lighter fluid. Light the charcoal (Note: At this time the diamonds are made, this procedure is reducing the excess carbon to ash.)
>
> At this time you should have a dish full of a gray/black soot. Carefully scrape this soot into a dark colored dish and gently wash. The ash will wash away leaving the diamonds you’ve produced.
So what’s the scoop? Is this the real deal? Can I go down to the store and grab a bag of charcoal and make myself a nice solitaire ring?
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/2 "2003-03-02T00:18:51Z")
The site doesn’t exactly ooze credibility, does it? I’m going to vote ‘false’ on this one.
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/3 "2003-03-02T00:20:50Z")
No. Definitely not.
Here is a description, with illustrations, of the technique for making diamonds at home. It requires considerably more complex equipment than peanut butter and charcoal briquettes, namely, things like “Graphite disks”, “Nickel and Magnesium Powder”, and a “Magnesium Oxide Sample Furnace”.
[http://www.chipr.sunysb.edu/eserc/RPESC/1996/Group2/](http://www.chipr.sunysb.edu/eserc/RPESC/1996/Group2/)
Do you really think your link has discovered a way to make industrial diamonds that the diamond industry doesn’t know about? Making diamonds requires not only very high heat but also extreme pressure, which the “peanut butter method” doesn’t seem to mention. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/4 "2003-03-02T00:20:55Z")
I’m with **Mangetout** on this one. Complete and utter bullshit.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/5 "2003-03-02T00:24:11Z")
I doubt it. Even if some diamonds could be produced by this method, they certainly would not be anywhere near gem quality. Compare this to the industrial process used to create [synthetic diamonds](http://www.elwoodcorp.com/diam2.htm)
> [@](#):
>
> Modern manufacture of synthetic diamonds utilizes these same methods discovered by Mr. Hall. A mixture of graphite and a catalyst (typically nickel) is subjected to a pressure of approximately 1,000,000 pounds per square inch and a temperature of 1,800 °C for a period of approximately 1 hour. During this time diamond crystals nucleate at many sites in the mixture. The mixture is then cooled., then the pressure reduced to atmosphere. The diamond crystals are then separated from the remaining graphite and nickel using an acid wash.
The high pressure is important, and I don’t think you’ll find that in your microwave oven.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/6 "2003-03-02T00:25:07Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \*
> \*\*Making diamonds requires not only very high heat but also extreme pressure, which the “peanut butter method” doesn’t seem to mention. :rolleyes: \*\*
I should add (lest anyone thinks I am unfairly judging) that this was at least as much a factor in my ‘false’ vote; not only is there no extreme pressure involved in the peanut butter methond, but the temperatures are way too low.
Great way to totally shag your microwave and best casserole dish though, I reckon.
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/7 "2003-03-02T00:27:26Z")
Hmmm. I must have done something wrong when I tried it. I got two lemons and a dachshund.
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### Author:  [@PosterChild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PosterChild)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/8 "2003-03-02T00:27:43Z")
If it doesn’t work, it’s because they forgot that you’re supposed to wrap them **very** tightly with rubber bands to supply the pressure that’s needed to make diamonds. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/9 "2003-03-02T00:27:59Z")
Here’s a chart of the tremendous heat and pressure required to make diamonds out of carbon.
[http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1998/IleneWeintraub.shtml](http://hypertextbook.com/facts/1998/IleneWeintraub.shtml)
And I found this. It’s a short history of how it was discovered just how much pressure was required to create diamonds, and at the end…
[http://www.tyler-adam.com/49.html](http://www.tyler-adam.com/49.html)
> [@](#):
>
> And now…the solution. It will only work if you can sustain a temperature level of 1000 degrees centigrade while keeping up the pressure of over fifty thousand atmospheres.
>
> \< snip \>
>
> As an experiment, a scientist named Robert Wentorf Jr. took a spoonful of [_peanut butter_] and put it into the machine [_for creating the necessary heat and pressure_] and presto… the chef’s delight…diamond crystals.
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### Author:  [@Cillasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cillasi)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/10 "2003-03-02T00:38:43Z")
I don’t think so 😉
Modern manufacture of synthetic diamonds…
A mixture of graphite and a catalyst (typically nickel) is subjected to a pressure of approximately 1,000,000 pounds per square inch and a temperature of 1,800 °C for a period of approximately 1 hour. During this time diamond crystals nucleate at many sites in the mixture. The mixture is then cooled., then the pressure reduced to atmosphere. The diamond crystals are then separated from the remaining graphite and nickel using an acid wash.
[http://www.lapidarydigest.com/Archive/ld082.txt](http://www.lapidarydigest.com/Archive/ld082.txt)
Extreme pressure and heat, much more than you can possibly supply with a microwave oven and a bbq grill, are required to produce synthetic diamonds. Carbon must be forced to form the crystal lattice that makes a diamond. Pressure and heat provide the force.
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### Author:  [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/11 "2003-03-02T00:48:37Z")
That’s what I figured … my brother was pretty hyped about seeing what the chances were of this working, though, and rather than blowing up his microwave I thought I’d check with you guys first. :😁:
Too bad, though. If it worked, I figured it might have been a cheap alternative to [Life Gems](http://www.lifegem.com). Now I guess I’ll have to shell out the big bucks for mom’s funeral. 😉
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/12 "2003-03-02T00:53:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Zoe \*
> \*\*Hmmm. I must have done something wrong when I tried it. I got two lemons and a dachshund. \*\*
Maybe it’s just because it’s late here, but this just _floored_ me.
😃
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/13 "2003-03-02T04:16:26Z")
I tried it and ended up with Crunchy peanut butter - yuck.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/14 "2003-03-02T04:21:23Z")
I vote this Most Surreal GQ Thread Title.
**XJETGIRLX** can pick up her gilded `two lemons and a dachshund’ trophy in the vestibule.
😃
(Angrily play cards with Penrose-tiled Welsh Corgis!)
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### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/15 "2003-03-02T04:31:44Z")
This experiment is just the athor’s way of getting you pull a prank on yourself. It would be like convincing the mark to put the fresh dogshit in a bag, set it on his own porch, light it on fire then stomp it out all himself.
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### Author:  [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/16 "2003-03-02T22:01:52Z")
Well, let’s pause and consider what this would do to the microwave, exactly, because now I’m curious. I don’t think it would “blow up” the microwave, would it? The charcoal briquettes are dry, so they wouldn’t really get that hot, would they? So they’d be pretty much inert, right? So the end result of microwaving peanut butter for 60 minutes would be nothing, I’d imagine. It’s just fat. Would it carbonize, if you were stopping the microwave every 10 minutes? I think it would just get really hot and messy.
And then of course you’re taking the whole thing outside and lighting it with charcoal starter. So your end product would be, as the website said, “soot”.
But I don’t think you’d end up with a ruined microwave, unless the PB exploded. Anybody care to try it? Four ounces is half a cup of PB.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/17 "2003-03-02T22:10:15Z")
I would have thought that there is a significant risk of a fire starting inside the microwave and causing damage to the interior. Also, I’m not sure how well vented they are, but if all of the water content boils away and escapes, then the fat burns or otherwise breaks down, isn’t it then possible that we’re then left with a microwave in which there are no absorptive contents? (which I think would be bad).
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### Author:  [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/18 "2003-03-02T22:32:51Z")
So if the microwave fire doesn’t get you, then they’ve got you setting your dishes on fire in the bbq grill–and if _that_ doesn’t get you, they get you to “wash” the ashes and sift through some slimy black mud for half an hour or so looking for something. . .anything.
I agree with the “self-inflicted flaming poo” analogy presented above by **Padeye** 🙂
[hijack]
However, **mangetout** mentions a microwave with no absortive contents, and I’ve seen this referenced elsewhere–the assertion that running an empty microwave (or a microwave with no moist things to heat) will produce sparks, etc. I have to say that I’ve never seen this–I’ve accidentally run an empty microwave for a couple minutes at at time (take something out and forgetting to turn off the timer), with no ill effects. 😕
[/hijack]
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### Author:  [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/19 "2003-03-02T22:48:07Z")
Just for the record, you don’t necessarily need high pressure anymore to synthesize diamond (though the new “improved” methods do require diamond dust for nucleation sites). It can be done relatively easily at about 850 C in a hydrogen plasma with 1% methane. The newer methods use argon plasmas.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [March 2, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peanut-butter-microwave-diamonds/158483/20 "2003-03-02T22:51:55Z")
It seems that everybody _says_ that running a microwave oven empty can damage it, but I’m not sure how we can tell if that’s true.
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