Crystal Structure Lab

Abstract

This activity is concerned with crystals, the basic building units that make up rocks and minerals. Students construct a model of the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron and discover that the smallest whole unit that could form a unique crystal is called a unit cell. They learn that a unit cell would have all the properties of a large crystal such as a diamond, but would be only molecular size (submicroscopic). If a crystal starts to form from a slowly cooling magma or from a drying up pool of salty sea water, unit cells add themselves one on top of another in order to develop the large crystals we can see and handle. Educational levels: High school, Middle school