Identification Tips:

Quartz is best identified by it's characteristic crystal shape. It is extremely common and can be found in a wide variety of colors. Quartz is very hard and easily scratches glass.

Quartz is composed of 2 elements: silicon and oxygen. These elements combine to form a shape called the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron with a silicon atom at the center surrounded by 4 oxygen atoms. A tetrahedron is a 4 sided geometric shape. You should remember the name (silicon-oxygen tetrahedron) and you should recognize it when you see it illustrated on the regents (the illustrations vary from year to year).

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