In the world of crystals

For starters, you can do this experience. Used a glass of water sprinkle a little salt. Stir it with a spoon or wooden stick. Necessary to stir until the salt is completely dissolved. Now pour this solution into a small, preferably a metal plate. You can just put a saucer in a warm place and wait until all the water evaporates. But to accelerate the process we put a plate on the hotplate. Now the water will evaporate faster. You are watching a saucer? Fine. Soon it will be formed grains of salt. Watch carefully: these grains grow. Now and all the water has evaporated. Take a magnifying glass and carefully consider these grains. Considered? Each grain - this is the right block, smooth, with smooth and shiny faces. This is the salt crystals. The same multi-faceted crystals of regular shape are often found among the stones. When you look at them, it seems that they are cut and polished the skilful hand of the master - the jeweler. But in this case, such a master is by nature itself. Once a group of geologists has found in a deep mountain cave. Wonderful picture opened their eyes. The entire inner side of the underground castle was covered with huge bluish crystals. It was the fluorite. The most remarkable was a group of crystals weighing about 200 kilograms. She has more than 100 perfectly transparent, shiny, slightly bluish cubes. From the light of lanterns, this priceless collection of millions of colored lights flashed. Semi-precious mineral beryl crystals sometimes grow to five meters in height and up to five feet in width. In Spain, such crystals are used as pillars in the gate. The crystals of rock crystal often grow up in a half or two human growth. Weighs a "lens" about two tons. In the late fifties in the Altai found the largest crystal rock crystal. Height, he was a two-story house, and weighed 70 tons. In the last century has been found a huge crystal of feldspar. He was huge, that it was situated an entire quarry for the extraction of this mineral. In the deserts of Central Asia and Iran, there are entire mountain ranges of crystal rock salt. No one plant will not see on the slopes of these salt mountains. Previously considered a rare crystals of a "game of nature." Of course, the Giants - the polyhedra do not occur very often, but the crystals are smaller all around us. In the granite, if you look closely, even to the naked eye can discern the plate of mica, quartz crystals and feldspar. The sand is mainly composed of rounded quartz crystals and marble - from the calcite crystals. The fresh fracture of the metal is easy to see individual grains of the crystals. On Earth, there is no non-crystalline metals. It was also found that the crystals are many other body: in the clay, rubber, carbon black, bones, hair, needles Dnkoobraza, tusks of mammoth, the fibers of wool, silk, cellulose, found a crystal structure. We live in a world of crystals. Our homes and cities are built of stone and metal: it means, basically, of the crystals. We walk through the crystal, are producing crystals from the ground, creating products of crystalline materials, we send into space crystal devices, we eat the crystals, crystal doctor ourselves, and even themselves often consist of crystals. There is no place on earth where there would be no crystals. And not just on Earth. From interplanetary space arrive to us fragments of celestial bodies - meteorites. They also consist of crystals.