The most abundant mineral on the earth's surface, of chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO2. It occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous. Found in every environment
A natural or commercially synthesized silicon dioxide crystal used in "quartz analog" or solid state digital watches when activated by a battery or solar power, the thin sliver of crystal very predictably vibrates at an extremely high frequency (32,768 times per second) thus providing very accurate timekeeping The main components are: an Electric Circuit Block (Quartz Oscillator and CMOS-IC) and the Mechanical Block (step motor, gear train, hands) and a battery
(Geology) The most common rock-forming mineral It is made up of silicon dioxide (SiO2) Quartz crystals may be glassy or opaque (milky quartz) and exist in a variety of colors including white, rose, smoky gray, and purple
A common rock-forming mineral of crystalline silica (SiO2) composed of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra in a 3D network In sedimentary rocks quartz is a common detrital mineral, it also occurs in cherts as a result of the diagenesis of amorphous, hydrated forms of silica such as opal and chalcedony
Quartz is a mineral in the form of a hard, shiny crystal. It is used in making electronic equipment and very accurate watches and clocks. a quartz crystal. Second most abundant mineral (after feldspar) in the Earth's crust, present in many rocks. Quartz, which consists of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), has great economic importance. Many varieties are gemstones, including amethyst, citrine, smoky quartz, and rose quartz. Sandstone, composed mainly of quartz, is an important building stone. Large amounts of quartz sand (or silica sand) are used in the manufacture of glass and ceramics and for molds in metal casting. Crushed quartz is used as an abrasive in sandpaper; silica sand is employed in sandblasting; and sandstone is used whole to make whetstones, millstones, and grindstones. Silica glass (or fused quartz) is used in optics to transmit ultraviolet light. Tubing and various vessels of fused quartz have important laboratory applications, and quartz fibres are employed in extremely sensitive weighing devices
Quartz is a powerful graphics system that delivers a rich imaging model, on-the-fly rendering, anti-aliasing, and compositing of PostScript graphics Quartz also implements the windowing system for Mac OS X and provides low-level services such as event handling and cursor management It also offers facilities for rendering and printing that use PDF as an internal model for graphics representation
A form of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), occurring in hexagonal crystals, which are commonly colorless and transparent, but sometimes also yellow, brown, purple, green, and of other colors; also in cryptocrystalline massive forms varying in color and degree of transparency, being sometimes opaque
A material frequently used in projectile points and other artifacts When quartz is clear and colorless it is called rock crystal; milky wuartz is milky white; smoky quartz is clouded a brown color; rose quartz is a pale red color; sugar quartz is the color of brown sugar
The core portion of the Mac OS X graphics and windowing environment, Quartz is comprised of two core services, Core Graphics Services and Core Graphics Rendering
mineral with the formula SiO2 Usually it is clear, or translucent white, but it can be other colors due to impurities or radiation damage It is not scratched by a knife and breaks along irregular surfaces
One of the minerals that makes up granite Quartz is extremely hard, and gives granite its extraordinary wear resistance For more on quartz content and other information about granite, see our FAQ
Crystalline silica, SiO2, occurring either in prisms capped by rhombohedra (low-temperature quartz, stable up to 573°C) or in hexagonal bipyramidal crystals (high-temperature quartz, stable above 573°C) Widely distributed in rocks of all kinds; igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary; usually colourless and transparent (rock crystal), but often coloured by minute quantities of impurities as in citrine, cairngorm, etc; also finely crystalline in the several forms of chalcedony, jasper etc
A form of silica occurring in hexagonal crystals which are commonly colorless and transparent, but sometimes also yellow, brown, purple, green, etc It is the most common of all solid minerals See also Silica
The most common type of crystalline silica Some publications will use quartz and crystalline silica interchangeably, but the term crystalline silica actually encompasses several forms: quartz, cristobalite, tridymite, and several rarer forms Also the term sand is used interchangeably
Silicon dioxide, or 'silica' in crystal form Quartz is one of the most common minerals in the crust of the Earth It is found in granites and other igneous rocks as well as forming most sandstones It is a very common gangue mineral Some colour varieties of quartz are semi-precious, for example amethyst (purple), citrine (yellow), rock crystal (colourless), cairngorm (brown) and morion (black)
Commercial name for silicon dioxide formed into glass products It features high temperature resistance, making it an ideal material for use in the semiconductor manufacturing process
An important rock-forming silicate mineral composed of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra joined in a three-dimensional network It is distinguished by its hardness, glassy luster and conchoidal fracture
a hard glossy mineral consisting of silicon dioxide in crystal form; present in most rocks (especially sandstone and granite); yellow sand is quartz with iron oxide impurities