The Difference Between Minerals and Crystals
Minerals and crystals are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they have slightly different meanings. Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a definite chemical composition and crystalline structure. Crystals are solids with a regular, repeating arrangement of atoms, molecules, or ions.
All minerals are crystals, but not all crystals are minerals. For example, synthetic crystals such as silicon crystals are not minerals, and organic crystals such as sugar crystals are also not minerals.
Minerals
Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic substances with a definite chemical composition and a crystalline structure. They are the building blocks of rocks and soil, and they are used in a wide variety of industrial and commercial applications. There are over 4,000 known minerals, and they are the building blocks of rocks.
Some examples of minerals include:
- Quartz
- Feldspar
- Mica
- Galena
- Sphalerite
- Gold
- Silver
- Copper
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| The Difference Between Minerals and Crystals. Left: Pair of natural tanzanite crystals! From Arusha Region, Tanzania Credit Left: Anton Watzl Right: Man-made Bismuth crystal |
Crystals
Crystals, on the other hand, are solids with a repeating, three-dimensional arrangement of atoms, molecules, or ions. This arrangement creates a geometric shape, like a cube or pyramid. They can from minerals, but they can also form from other substances, such as organic materials (e.g., sugar crystals) or synthetic materials (e.g., silicon crystals). Crystals have a variety of shapes, including cubes, octahedrons, prisms, and needles.
Some examples of crystals include:
- Quartz crystals
- Diamond crystals
- Fluorite crystals
- Calcite crystals
- Pyrite crystals
- Halite crystals
- Sugar crystals
- Silicon crystals
Crystals and minerals differ, not only through the ways in which they are used but they also differ in terms of structure. To put it simply, a crystal is a structure made up of various natural materials whereas a mineral is a material in itself. Two or more minerals can actually have the same chemical composition and yet completely differ when it comes to crystal structure.
These are known as polymorphs. Crystal structure can greatly influence the physical properties of a mineral. A good example of this would be diamonds and graphite. As you already know, diamonds are known to be the hardest of all minerals and yet, whilst it has the same composition as the graphite, the latter is very malleable in nature.
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