8 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Why does quartz come in so many different shapes and colors?
So, with substitutions like I described (one ion taking the place of another), they actually are part of the quartz itself. It takes the place of a silicon cation and bonds with the neighboring oxygen anions just like a silicon would. It's the little differences in charge, ionic radius, etc that cause lattice distortion around the substituting ion.
Comment by opteryx5 at 27/02/2022 at 00:18 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Ohhh I see. I thought these impurities were just “encased” in the lattice that the SiO2 created. But they’re actually chemically a part of the lattice itself. Interesting.
Thank you once again for clarifying all this! I always like to dig deeper into the why of things beyond the short answer so this is very helpful. Really appreciate it.