How Crystals Work - TedEd
Below are supplemental materials to my TED-Ed lesson on how crystals work. These materials are useful for elementary to university level science education.
The movies show the growth of various crystals from an evaporating solution. Solutions are saturated with NaCl (halite or table salt), KCl (sylvite, or “salt substitute” found at the grocery store), or sucrose (table sugar) solutions, or a mixture of these solutions.
There is a progression of topics presented, so it is suggested the topics are viewed in the order presented below.
Meet the Author
Dr. Graham B. Baird is a Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Northern Colorado.
Dr. Baird teaches classes in, for example, Structural Geology, Ore Geology, and Tectonics. Dr. Baird also researches various aspects of plate tectonics and is currently studying mountain belts in the Adirondacks (northern New York State), the Front Range of Colorado, and northern Sweden.
- 1. Growth of solitary NaCl Crystal
- 2. Intergrowth of two NaCl Crystals
- 2.1. Intergrown Grain Boundary Image Explanation
- 3. Crystals with Fluid Inclusions
- 3.1. Crystals with Fluid Inclusions Image Explanation
- 3.1.1. Quartz and Fluid Inclusions
- 3.1.1.1. Crystal with Variable Inclusions, Example 1
- 3.1.1.2. Crystal with Variable Inclusions, Example 2
- 3.1.1.3. Crystal with Variable Inclusions, Example 3
- 4. Crystal Nucleation
- 4.1. Expitaxial Nucleation Image Explanation
- 5. Very Rapid Crystal Growth
- 6. Sucrose (Sugar) Crystal Growth
- 6.1. Sucrose (Sugar) Crystals in Cross-Polarized Light
- 7. Rock Thin Section with Cross-Polarized Light
- About these movies
Additional Resources
- Teaching Symmetry Using Kinesthetic Learning
- Growing Crystals on a Microscope Stage
- External Symmetry of Crystals Lecture
- Cystal Growth
- Crystal Form, Zones, Crystal Habit Lecture
- Crystal Lattice Structures
- Growing & Observing Crystals
- Video: Making Snowflakes In Slo-Mo
- Wikipedia page on Birefringence
- My YouTube Channel - for additional crystal growth movies
