Crystals

The word crystals comes from a Greek word called Krystallos which means frost and ice. In ancient times the clear crystal was believed to be ice that had frozen so hard it would never melt. This name was given originally only to clear rock crystals, but is now used for all solid substances. During the growth of a crystal, it can have about 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms per cubic millimeter! The name crystals is also given to any kind of quartz that has been rolling around in a river bed and has been completely polished. Huge crystals are extremely rare, although some have been found in Madagascar weighing about 40 tons and 23 ft in circumference! Today the record for the largest crystal is a 60 ft long beryl crystal weighing 36 tons and a diameter of twelve feet found in Madagascar!

Here is a list of all the different crystals
Axinite
Benitoite
Beryl	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield
Blende	hornblende
Blue John
Chrysoberyl	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield
Cordierite
Corundum
Danburite
Diamond	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield
Fibrolite
Garnet
Jade
Jadeite
Lapis Lazuli
Malachite
Moonstone
Nephrite
Opal
Peridot
Quartz	Quartz Amethyst
Rhodonite
Spinel	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield
Tanzanite	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield
Topaz	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield
Tourmaline	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield
Turquoise
Scapolite
Serpentine
Sinhalite
Spodumene
Zircon	Photo Courtesy of Professor Jill Banfield