Crystal, agate, glass, chalcedony...why are there such big differences?

We are all one family, all SiO2, why are we so different?

So, how do we distinguish them?

First, let's pick out the glass.

Because it's worthless

We use keys, knives, or something harder.

Cut it with a knife!

Glass is the easiest to scratch.

If it is hard to scratch, it is not glass!

Let me put it in a more professional way:

If we look at their microstructure, we can tell them apart.

The microstructures of crystal, agate, and chalcedony are all

Queue up honestly:

Glass is different. The microstructure of glass has no morals! They don't line up, they are wherever they want:

Look carefully at the two pictures above.

Discover,

The similarities are:

The adjacent positions of a Si are all O

This is called: having a short-range rule

The differences are:

The structure of crystals looks very neat at first glance.

But the structure of the glass looks crooked at first glance.

Amazing!

The atoms line up obediently (that is, they follow the short-range law),

And it looks very neat

It's called: crystal

Although there is a short-range rule,

But it looks crooked.

It is called: amorphous

So! Glass is amorphous!

Quartz, agate, and chalcedony are all crystals!

Next, we need to pick out the crystals.

It looks so much like glass!

But we have identified the glass.

so......

In crystal, agate, chalcedony,

The guy who looks like glass

It must be crystal!

Moreover, beautiful crystals usually look like this↓

When many crystal columns huddle together for warmth

It becomes: Crystal Cluster

This includes the wealth-

Amethyst Cave!

The biggest difference between crystal, agate and chalcedony is:

Natural crystals (those not processed by humans) are angular;

On the other hand, agate chalcedony has no edges and corners and feels very round;

amazing!

Isn't this the difference?

This is because:

Crystal is a kind of crystal, and crystal cluster is a collection of crystals.

That is to say, the crystal shape of the crystal can be seen with the naked eye.

Its crystals are revealed

Those "edges"

Agate and chalcedony are cryptocrystalline aggregates.

Although they are also crystals,

Their crystals cannot be seen with the naked eye and can only be seen with a microscope.

Agate magnified under a microscope

Those densely packed little dots inside are actually small crystals!

The crystals of agate and chalcedony are like invisible and can only be discovered with the help of high technology.

This is called a cryptocrystalline aggregate.

Crystal and glass are distinguished

Now only agate and chalcedony are left.

In theory, their differences are mainly:

one,

Agate has a banded structure

Chalcedony does not have this structure.

two,

The color of agate is uneven and has a layered feel.

The color of chalcedony is very uniform.

three,

Chalcedony has a stronger sense of transparency and is more transparent.

However, these three rules are only theoretical! These classification methods cannot distinguish well in many cases.

For example, during processing, a worker may cut the agate along a stripe. At this time, the processed agate has a uniform color and no stripes! Transparency is a very mysterious thing and difficult to distinguish, which leads to downstream manufacturers and users seeing this agate and calling it "chalcedony!"

Don't worry too much~

Finally, a professional table summary:

How about it? Do you feel after watching it?

Have you gained a deeper understanding of glass, crystal, agate and chalcedony?

Any questions or ideas?

You can interact by leaving a message! ~

References and image sources:

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%B0%B4%E6%99%B6/183?fr=aladdin

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8E%9B%E7%91%99/262428?fr=aladdin

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%8E%89%E9%AB%93/111672?fr=aladdin

http://global.rakuten.com/zh-cn/store/sekimori/item/ta_sh150b-10/

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E9%9D%9E%E6%99%B6%E4%BD%93/1291836

https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/168311073.html

https://www.cang.com/article/post/478912

https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s?id=1577863907005093357

Editor | Lv Junteng

Review | Wang Xiao and Hu Shichun