What Are the Seven Basic Crystal Systems?
Minerals crystallize according to one of seven motifs, known as crystal systems.
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Transcript
[Music in]
NARRATOR: To date, more than 3,500 kinds of minerals have been discovered on Earth. At first glance they all look different. However, minerals can be classified in families according to the shape of their crystals. To find out what family a crystal belongs to, we have to study it at the atomic scale.
Crystals are composed of atoms ordered in a geometric pattern called a motif, such as a cube, that replicates in three dimensions. There are only seven different motifs according to which minerals can crystallize. These are called crystal systems. When a crystal can develop freely, it takes exactly one of these forms. But very often crystallization isn't perfect, and the crystal's external form, or habit, varies.
So, in nature, minerals may take a wide variety of shapes, all derived from the seven basic crystal systems.
[Music out]
NARRATOR: To date, more than 3,500 kinds of minerals have been discovered on Earth. At first glance they all look different. However, minerals can be classified in families according to the shape of their crystals. To find out what family a crystal belongs to, we have to study it at the atomic scale.
Crystals are composed of atoms ordered in a geometric pattern called a motif, such as a cube, that replicates in three dimensions. There are only seven different motifs according to which minerals can crystallize. These are called crystal systems. When a crystal can develop freely, it takes exactly one of these forms. But very often crystallization isn't perfect, and the crystal's external form, or habit, varies.
So, in nature, minerals may take a wide variety of shapes, all derived from the seven basic crystal systems.
[Music out]