LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Quartz
built 216 days ago
Rock Lore & Tidbits: Quartz is the most common mineral on the planet. It is a component of a huge variety of rock types, and comes in an extensive range of colors and varieties. Chalcedony is a crypto-crystalline variety of quartz and includes the agate and jasper families. Many colors of quartz or formations have their own names, such as amethyst for purple quartz. The word quartz is thought to come from the German word "quarz", but the origin of that word is not known. The word crystal... comes from the Greek word "krystallos" which means ice. Ancient Japanese believed quartz formed from the breath of a white dragon, and regarded it as representing perfection.
Source:
Quartz (crystalline silica or SiO2) is the most common single mineral of the continental crust. It is unusually hard for a white/clear mineral, hardness 7 on the Mohs scale. Quartz has a glassy appearance, known formally as a vitreous luster. It never breaks in splinters but fractures in chips with a typical shell-shaped or conchoidal surface. Once familiar with its appearance and range of colors, even beginner rockhounds can reliably identify quartz by eye or, if necessary, with a simple scratch test. It is so common in coarse-grained igneous rocks and metamorphic rocks that its absence may be more noteworthy than its presence.
Source:
Quartz has two polymorphs. Alpha quartz is trigonal and stable below 573 C. Above 573 C thermal agitation becomes vigorous enough to overcome the slight skewness of the chains and the structure inverts to beta quartz, which is hexagonal. The transformation involves no atomic rearrangement, and all quartz at surface conditions is alpha quartz.
Source:
Quartz fosters a greater awareness of your emotional being. It helps balance emotional energies and incorporate the effects of new experiences into your consciousness. With more emotional balance, you can handle all situations in a more dignified and balanced way. Because of this, Quartz may seem to protect you from the negative emotions of others. However, you will simply become more able to place negative emotions in perspective and to maintain your own balance. Positive emotions will appear enhanced, but only because you will appreciate and enjoy them more.
Source:
Quartz's piezoelectric properties were discovered by Jacques and Pierre Curie in 1880. The quartz oscillator or resonator was first developed by Walter Guyton Cady in 1921 [1]. George Washington Pierce designed and patented quartz crystal oscillators in 1923 [2]. Warren Marrison created the first quartz oscillator clock based on the work of Cady and Pierce in 1927 [3].
Source:
When therapeutic-quality Quartz is first fashioned into spheres, it is transparent. To prepare Quartz for use in a therapeutic necklace, the surface of the spheres must be roughened through a polishing process that makes the spheres appear white, or "frosted." Only Quartz spheres with this frosted finish should be worn in necklaces. When unfrosted Quartz spheres are drilled for stringing, the drill holes disrupt the energies at both ends of the spectrum of Quartz emanations, making such spheres disharmonious to the wearer. Frosting the spheres re-establishes and maintains a pure, balanced flow of their energies. This property is unique to colorless Quartz.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Quartz