How Do Crystals Work?
by Jennifer Snyder [Bunker ES]
1. Crystals have signature shapes
1.1. examples: cascade of pointed quartz or a pile of galena cubes
2. Every crystal's atoms have a defining feature; organization, repeating pattern.
2.1. Pattern is not restricted to minerals; sand, ice, metals and DNA have crystaline structures.
3. What causes crystals to grow into shapes again and again?
3.1. Generally as solids grow, requires less energy to organize atoms in this manner.
4. Crystalline substances are grouped, according to the type of symmetry they display, into 32 classes.
4.1. Subdivided into seven systems on the basis of the relationships of their axes, i.e., imaginary straight lines passing through the ideal centers of the crystals.
5. Crystals grow through evaporation and/or cooling of either salt-water or a sugar-water solution.
6. All crystals grow the same way.
7. Crystals are a common way for solids to grow.
8. Crystals have important properties.
8.1. Physical properties including polarizing light, hardness, cleavage, optical properties, heat conductivity, and electric conductivity.
9. Who studies crystals? geologists, biologists, chemists, physicists, material scientists, and mathematicians.
