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crystallography: Quick Facts

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Three illustrated crystals are shown to demonstrate different crystal classes and symmetries: a tall, prismatic monoclinic gypsum crystal; a pointed, double-ended tetragonal wulfenite crystal; and a cubic isometric halite crystal, each labeled with its crystal class and symmetry content.
Diagram showing the seven primitive crystal systems with labeled 3D shapes: isometric (cubic), tetragonal, orthorhombic, hexagonal, triclinic, monoclinic, and rhombohedral (trigonal), each with axis orientation and a brief description of their geometric properties.
Fascinating facts about crystals
Animated snowflake against a dark background.
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Related Topics and References

Topics

Key People

Bragg, Sir Lawrence
Sir Lawrence Bragg
British physicist
Sir William Bragg
Sir William Bragg
British physicist
Pierre Curie
Pierre Curie
French chemist
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Sir Charles Frank
English physicist
Israeli protein crystallographer Ada Yonath
Ada Yonath
Israeli biochemist
Rosalind Franklin poses for a black-and-white portrait, wearing a light top and a beaded necklace, with her hand resting under her chin.
Rosalind Franklin
British scientist
Meir Lahav
Meir Lahav
Israeli chemist
Hauptman, Herbert A.
Herbert A. Hauptman
American mathematician and crystallographer
Jerome Karle, 1985.
Jerome Karle
American crystallographer
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Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff
American chemist
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Max von Laue
German physicist
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John Desmond Bernal
Irish physicist
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Henry Edward Armstrong
British chemist
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Georges Friedel
French crystallographer
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Peter Debye
American physical chemist
Engraved portrait of Rene Just Hauy, French priest and mineralogist, shown from the chest up in formal attire, with his name printed below.
René-Just Haüy
French mineralogist
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Clifford G. Shull
American physicist
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Paul Peter Ewald
German physicist
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Albert Wallace Hull
American physicist
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Paul Niggli
Swiss mineralogist