Quartz morphology - The Correspondence Principle

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The correspondence principle states that there is a connection, a certain relationship between the outer morphology (crystal shape) on the one hand and its inner crystal structure on the other.

In this model, both polyhedral and ball-and-stick representation were used. The polyhedral representation shows how the crystal morphology (hexagonal prisms capped by pyramids) relates to the underlying crystal structure (trigonal - alpha-quartz). Note that the six-membered rings down to 001 have three-fold symmetry (compared to six-fold symmetry in the beta-quartz structure).

• Quartz is a mineral made of silicon and oxygen, (SiO2 -silicon dioxide);
• Quartz is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 tetrahedra;
• If we look at larger scale, the atomic arrangement resemble the shape of the real crystal.

Website: http://geology.uaic.ro/muzee/mineralogie/

Concept & 3D-modelling by Andrei Ionut APOPEI