For Students
The external morphology of a mineral is an expression of the fundamental internal architecture of a crystalline substance—i.e., its crystal structure. The crystal structure is the three-dimensional, regular (or ordered) arrangement of chemical units (atoms, ions, and anionic groups in inorganic materials; molecules in organic substances); these chemical units (referred to here as motifs) are repeated by various translational and symmetry operations (see below). The morphology of crystals can be studied with the unaided eye in large well-developed crystals and has been historically examined in considerable detail by optical measurements of smaller well-formed crystals through the use of optical goniometers ...(100 of 14209 words)