Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions.[1][2] In addition, macroscopic single crystals are usually identifiable by their geometrical shape, consisting of flat faces with specific, characteristic orientations. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography. The process of crystal formation via mechanisms of crystal growth is called crystallization or solidification.
"Crystalline" redirects here. For the Björk song, see Crystalline (song).
The word crystal derives from the Ancient Greek word κρύσταλλος (krustallos), meaning both "ice" and "rock crystal",[3] from κρύος (kruos), "icy cold, frost".[4][5]
Examples of large crystals include snowflakes, diamonds, and table salt. Most inorganic solids are not crystals but polycrystals, i.e. many microscopic crystals fused together into a single solid. Polycrystals include most metals, rocks, ceramics, and ice. A third category of solids is amorphous solids, where the atoms have no periodic structure whatsoever. Examples of amorphous solids include glass, wax, and many plastics.
Despite the name, lead crystal, crystal glass, and related products are not crystals, but rather types of glass, i.e. amorphous solids.
Crystals, or crystalline solids, are often used in pseudoscientific practices such as crystal therapy, and, along with gemstones, are sometimes associated with spellwork in Wiccan beliefs and related religious movements.[6][7][8]
Chemical bonds
In general, solids can be held together by various types of chemical bonds, such as metallic bonds, ionic bonds, covalent bonds, van der Waals bonds, and others. None of these are necessarily crystalline or non-crystalline. However, there are some general trends as follows:
Metals crystallize rapidly and are almost always polycrystalline, though there are exceptions like amorphous metal and single-crystal metals. The latter are grown synthetically, for example, fighter-jet turbines are typically made by first growing a single crystal of titanium alloy, increasing its strength and melting point over polycrystalline titanium. A small piece of metal may naturally form into a single crystal, such as Type 2 telluric iron, but larger pieces generally do not unless extremely slow cooling occurs. For example, iron meteorites are often composed of single crystal, or many large crystals that may be several meters in size, due to very slow cooling in the vacuum of space. The slow cooling may allow the precipitation of a separate phase within the crystal lattice, which form at specific angles determined by the lattice, called Widmanstatten patterns.[20]
Ionic compounds typically form when a metal reacts with a non-metal, such as sodium with chlorine. These often form substances called salts, such as sodium chloride (table salt) or potassium nitrate (saltpeter), with crystals that are often brittle and cleave relatively easily. Ionic materials are usually crystalline or polycrystalline. In practice, large salt crystals can be created by solidification of a molten fluid, or by crystallization out of a solution. Some ionic compounds can be very hard, such as oxides like aluminium oxide found in many gemstones such as ruby and synthetic sapphire.
Covalently bonded solids (sometimes called covalent network solids) are typically formed from one or more non-metals, such as carbon or silicon and oxygen, and are often very hard, rigid, and brittle. These are also very common, notable examples being diamond and quartz respectively.[21]
Weak van der Waals forces also help hold together certain crystals, such as crystalline molecular solids, as well as the interlayer bonding in graphite. Substances such as fats, lipids and wax form molecular bonds because the large molecules do not pack as tightly as atomic bonds. This leads to crystals that are much softer and more easily pulled apart or broken. Common examples include chocolates, candles, or viruses. Water ice and dry ice are examples of other materials with molecular bonding.[22]Polymer materials generally will form crystalline regions, but the lengths of the molecules usually prevent complete crystallization—and sometimes polymers are completely amorphous.
Insulin crystals grown in earth orbit. The low gravity allows crystals to be grown with minimal defects.
An apatite crystal sits front and center on cherry-red rhodochroite rhombs, purple fluorite cubes, quartz and a dusting of brass-yellow pyrite cubes.
A specimen consisting of a bornite-coated chalcopyrite crystal nestled in a bed of clear quartz crystals and lustrous pyrite crystals. The bornite-coated crystal is up to 1.5 cm across.
Crystallized sugar. Crystals on the right were grown from a sugar cube, while the left from a single seed crystal taken from the right. Red dye was added to the solution when growing the larger crystal, but, insoluble with the solid sugar, all but small traces were forced to precipitate out as it grew.
