A mineral is a naturally-occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline substance having a fairly definite chemical composition and having fairly definite physical pr — Photo: James St. John · CC BY 2.0
Milky Quartz
Also known as: Snow quartz.
Quartz is a hard mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). Its atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen atom being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2. Therefore, quartz is classified structurally as a framework silicate mineral and compositionally as an oxide mineral. Quartz is the second most common mineral or mineral group in Earth's lithosphere, comprising about 12% by mass. Quartz exists in two forms, the normal α-quartz and the high-temperature β-quartz, both of which are chiral.
Intro adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Milky Quartz is a mineral variety of Quartz, with the chemical formula SiO₂.
It crystallizes in the trigonal crystal system.
Key properties: Mohs hardness 7; typically white.
Collections: Everyday Minerals.