Timeline for Would it be possible for a humanoid organism to have bones made of a crystal like quartz or diamond rather than apatite?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
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| Apr 14, 2018 at 13:54 | history | edited | John | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Apr 14, 2018 at 3:49 | comment | added | John | pure carbon is not really soluble, and with the solubility issue you have problems forming linkages with the rest of the composite.could you do it yes but it will be weaker than bone and not be able to heal fast enough, so it will eventually break down. | |
| Apr 14, 2018 at 2:52 | comment | added | Horik | I'm not actually asking what would happen if the entire bone were made out of quartz/diamond/whatever. I'm asking what the bone would be like if the existing microscopic hydroxylapatite crystals in the bone were replaced with one of these other materials, maintaining a similar crystal size. Also, carbon is way more plentiful in the body than Ca and P are, so I would imagine making them out of diamonds wouldn't be overly difficult from a logistics standpoint. | |
| Apr 13, 2018 at 18:31 | history | answered | John | CC BY-SA 3.0 |