How long does it take minerals to form crystals?
Crystals can form from vapor, as with snowflakes; or from a solution of a substance, as with rock candy in a water solution of sugar; or from cooling of a molten mass. It is a two-way process: snowflakes also evaporate (sublime) in dry air, sugar dissolves, and crystals melt. Crystals can form almost instantly. For example, a great deal of potassium nitrate can be dissolved in boiling water. (Hotter liquids can hold larger amounts of dissolved solids.) As the water cools, the solution becomes "supersaturated" -- it is holding more potassium nitrate than it is normally able to. A tiny bump or a dust mote can cause most of the dissolved substance to crystallize immediately. On the other hand, the enormous crystals in the Cave of Crystals in Naica, Chihuahua, Mexico have been growing for half a million years.Crystals form when atoms or molecules of a substance bond to each other in an orderly way, very much like tiny Legos. Since the atoms or molecules are uniform in size and the bonding sites are also uniform, a crystal is a magnified view of the natural pattern of organization formed by them. Since impurities introduce distortions and these are magnified too, pure substances produce much better crystals. Some artificially grown crystals are grown from materials that are extremely high in purity.Since crystal formation/destruction is a two-way process, it takes place continuously under the right condtions, so there isn't really a well-defined time scale involved. When there is a lot of a substance in solution, crystallization takes place at a higher rate. A smaller surplus results in slower crystal growth. Crystallization appears to halt when the concentration of dissolved substance drops below a certain threshold. Actually, molecules are being added to and removed from the crystal surface in equal amounts, so the crystal appears to us as unchanging.
How long does it take to grow crystals?
How ever long you like really, if you mix salt with water and boil it you'll get loads of tiny crystals. But for big crystals you want to work much slower and leave it out to evaporate. Or for even bigger crystals you can put a starter (seed) small crystal on a string and dangle it in the solution this provides a site for growth of crystals. A bit warning: When I was a kid I loved crystals (thought they had magical powers because of a film I'd seen and found out how to make some by accident (left some salty water out and it made tiny unimpressive crystals not big enough for me to jugde their powers) so I filled a bowl with sugary water and left it over 6 weeks I was away on a summer holiday so I'd forgotten about them 'till i got him (little kid rememebr 8/9) anyways when I got home I had humongous crystals covered in fugus! Which I suppose was more exciting at that age. And I still don't know if crystals have magical powers so let me know eh?
What are some beautiful examples of patterns in nature?
Birds flying Fishes Human teethhuman eyehuman fingerpattern hair styleFish teethBismuth is a chemical element with symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth, a pentavalent poor metal, chemically resembles arsenic and antimony. Elemental bismuth may occur naturally, although its sulfide and oxide form important commercial ores. The free element is 86% as dense as lead. It is a brittle metal with a silvery white color when freshly produced, but is often seen in air with a pink tinge owing to surface oxidation.Corn At 2.27 metres (7ft 5in) high, the Amorphophallus titanum is considered the largest flower in the world. Yup! It smells terrible.Physalis alkekengi, or the Chinese/Japanese Lantern, blooms during Winter and dries during Spring. Once it is dried, the bright red fruit is seen. The outer cover is a thin mesh that held the flower petals, seen in golden brown colour.Priotrochatella (Cuban Land Snail)From a Violent Collision Comes Celestial Beauty – Amber inclusions of olivine in meteorite..Koroit Opal – Found In Australia, South West Queensland.Flying fish can make powerful, self-propelled leaps out of water into air, where their long, wing-like fins enable gliding flight for considerable distances above the water’s surface. This uncommon ability is a natural defense mechanism to evade predators.