Shapes of Mineral Crystals
Cubic crystals are not always cube shaped! There are many that are shaped like octahedrons (eight faces), and some that are shaped like dodecahedrons (12 faces). | |
Tetragonal crystals are shaped like cubic crystals but are longer in one direction making shapes like double pyramids and prisms. | |
Orthorhombic crystals are often shaped like rhombic prisms or dipyramids (two pyramids stuck together). They often look a bit like tetragonal crystals except that they are not square in cross section (when you look at the crystal on end). | |
Hexagonal crystals often look like six-sided prisms. When you look at the crystal on end, it looks like a hexagon shape in cross section. | |
Monoclinic crystals look like tetragonal crystals that have been skewed. Often, they form prism shapes and double pyramids. | |
Triclinic crystals are sometimes very strange shapes! They are usually not symmetrical from one side to the other. |
All images are Windows to the Universe Originals
Last modified July 17, 2007 by Lisa Gardiner.