Carbon filtering is commonly used for water purification and this is because the activated charcoal (carbon) has been treated with oxygen to open up millions of tiny pores between the
carbon atoms. Both diamond and charcoal are made of carbon. However, activated charcoal
carbon filters are most effective at removing chlorine, sediment, taste and odor from water
whereas diamond is not. Why?
A. The carbon atoms in activated charcoal have a different attraction than the carbon atoms in
diamond. They are capable of attracting impurities that diamond cannot.
B. The unusual formation of activated charcoal gives it the ability to capture chemical through
electrostatic attraction. The carbon atoms in diamond are too far apart and will not trap other
chemicals.
C. The huge surface area of activated charcoal gives it countless bonding sites. When certain
chemicals pass next to the carbon surface, they attach to the surface and are trapped. The
carbon atoms in diamond are not capable of bonding to anything else.
D. Impurities are attracted to the tiny spores in activated charcoal whereas the carbon atoms in
diamond repel substances because of the like charges between elements.