polishing

[VisualThinker7@zzzzzzz]

I noticed that the article didn't address the question of what polishing
actually is, but it was fascinating anyway. He goes on and on about the behavior
of glass, then admits that gemstones often don't behave like glass!

The article said: "We now believe that the surface does not really melt but
instead flows plastically, much like clay flows under the strain of the
artist's  hands. "

DUH. Why does it 'flow plastically'? Local heat. Why isn't that called
'melting'? It only occurs in a thin surface layer, and the experts choose not to
call that process 'melting'.

Nothing that was said by anyone here, or in the article, actually addresses
my understanding that heat causes movement of a thin layer of molecules, which
 are then aligned in a coherent pattern by the mechanical effect of
polishing.

The heat is LOCAL, very very LOCAL, and concentrated at a microscopic  level.
The water simply keeps the heat from spreading to other parts of the  metal,
or to the tool being used. At the microscopic level where the heating and
rearrangement of molecules occurs, water doesn't cool it at all. In fact the
water may help to transmit the heat into microscopic pits.

There are plenty of film clips of navy divers welding fittings onto sunken
ships, or using cutting torches remove pieces. All of the water in all the
oceans of the world isn't capable of cooling that surface at the fine point
where the welding and cutting are actually happening. Because the  heating is
local.

The finer the grit the more surface area there is, and therefore the more
heat.

The photon question is an interesting one. If only the manufacturer put
serial numbers on photons, we could tell if the ones reflected are the same ones
that struck the polished surface!