Quick answer: Phosphorescence is a glow that continues after a UV light is switched off, sometimes for seconds and occasionally
Phosphorescence: The Glow That Keeps Going After the Lamp Goes Off Read Post »
Quick answer: A new mineral becomes official only after the International Mineralogical Association’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification
Quick answer: Zeolites are minerals whose crystal structures are full of tiny tunnels and cages, which hold loosely bound water
Zeolites: The Minerals with Empty Space Built In Read Post »
Quick answer: The rock cycle is the continuous transformation of rock between three types. Igneous rock forms from cooled magma;
The Rock Cycle: How Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic Rock Recycle Into Each Other Read Post »
Quick answer: Pegmatites are igneous rock bodies with exceptionally large crystals, from centimeters to meters long, that form from the
Pegmatites: The Slow-Cooling Rock Bodies That Grow Giant Crystals Read Post »
Quick answer: Hardness is resistance to scratching, measured on the Mohs scale; toughness is resistance to breaking or chipping. They
Quick answer: Pleochroism is when a mineral shows different colors viewed along different crystal directions, because its structure absorbs light
Pleochroism: Minerals That Change Color Depending on the Angle You View Them Read Post »
Quick answer: Conchoidal fracture is a smooth, curved, shell-like break with concentric ripple marks, named from the Greek word for
Conchoidal Fracture: Why Quartz and Glass Break Into Curves Read Post »
Quick answer: Chatoyancy, the cat’s-eye effect, is a single bright band of light that glides across a stone as you
Chatoyancy and Asterism: How Minerals Fake a Moving Line of Light Read Post »
Quick answer: Birefringence, or double refraction, is when a crystal splits a ray of light into two rays that travel
Birefringence: The Optical Trick Behind Double-Image Calcite Read Post »
