Diamond vs Tungsten carbide
Diamond and Tungsten carbide are genuine alternatives to one another — a choice somebody actually makes — and differ on 2 measured properties, density most clearly.
Diamond vs Tungsten carbide
These are different kinds of thing (mineral, compound). Fewer properties mean the same thing across both, so a like-for-like reading may not be available.
Diamond
C
Carbon in a cubic lattice — the hardest naturally occurring substance, and one of the best thermal conductors known.
Tungsten carbide
WC
Tungsten and carbon in a structure almost as hard as diamond and far tougher — the material nearly every cutting tool has an edge of.
| Property | Diamond | Tungsten carbide |
|---|---|---|
| Crystal system Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | cubic | Not known |
| Density | 3.5–3.53 g/cm³ | 15.6–15.8 g/cm³ higher |
| Lustre Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | adamantine | Not known |
| Melting point Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | Not known | 2870 °C |
| Mohs hardness Mohs hardness is an ordinal scale: values can be ranked, but differences and ratios between them are not meaningful. | 10 higher | 9–9.5 |
| Refractive index Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | 2.417 | Not known |
| Thermal conductivity Only one of the two has a figure we can stand behind, so there is nothing to compare. | 900–2320 W/(m·K) | Not known |