The idea of weeping precious stones is a compelling image, but the answer to the question “Can people cry diamonds?” is definitively no. The fantasy of a tear solidifying into a compressed, crystalline gem is contradicted by the basic rules of chemistry and physics. Diamond formation is an extraordinary geological event, while human tears are a simple biological fluid.
The Chemistry of Human Tears
Human tears are a complex, predominantly watery biological fluid secreted by the lacrimal glands. Water makes up about 98 to 99 percent of the fluid’s volume. The remaining fraction consists of solutes, including electrolytes like sodium, chloride, and potassium ions, which cause the salty taste.
Tears also contain proteins, such as antimicrobial enzymes like lysozyme, and small amounts of lipids and mucus that help maintain the tear film’s structure. Diamonds are composed of pure carbon atoms arranged in a lattice structure. Tears contain only trace amounts of carbon compounds, which are insufficient for forming a macroscopic carbon structure like a diamond.
The Science of Diamond Creation
Diamond formation requires extreme pressure and heat, conditions that do not exist anywhere within the human body. Natural diamonds form deep within the Earth’s mantle, typically at depths ranging from 140 to 190 kilometers. This immense depth provides the necessary pressure, which must be between 4.5 and 6 gigapascals, or approximately 45,000 to 60,000 times the atmospheric pressure.
Temperatures must also be exceptionally high, generally falling within a range of 900°C to 1,300°C. This combination forces carbon atoms to reorganize into the dense, tetrahedral crystal structure that defines a diamond. The human body maintains a temperature of about 37°C and operates at atmospheric pressure, making it incapable of providing the geological forces needed to compress carbon into a diamond.
Can Tears Crystallize into Anything Else
While tears cannot form diamonds, the components they contain do crystallize when the water evaporates. This phenomenon is frequently observed when a tear sample is allowed to dry on a microscopic slide. As the aqueous layer evaporates, the dissolved salts and organic materials are left behind.
The primary crystalline output is sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt, which is the most abundant non-water component. These salt ions form a simple, face-centered cubic crystal structure, often visible as intricate, branching patterns under a microscope, sometimes referred to as “ferns.” These salt crystals are brittle and dissolve easily in water, possessing none of the extreme hardness or optical properties of a gemstone. The difference in crystal structure highlights the vast chemical and physical disparity between a tear’s residue and a genuine precious stone.