How do crystals work? - Graham Baird
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TEDEd Animation
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Many crystals have signature shapes— like the cascade of pointed quartz or a pile of galena cubes. Every crystal’s atoms have a defining feature: their organized, repeating pattern. The pattern isn't restricted to minerals- sand, ice, metals and DNA also have crystalline structures. So what causes them to grow into these shapes again and again? Graham Baird dives into the unique properties of crystals.
Consider galvanized metal, such as a bare metal lamppost, guardrail, or garbage can. You can often see the different crystals that make up the metal surface. Consider what you see in this material and why it might be best that window glass doesn’t have a crystalline structure?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Graham Baird
- Director Franz Palomares
- Narrator Addison Anderson
- Music Carlos Palomares
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
- Associate Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Associate Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
- Script Editor Emma Bryce , Alex Gendler
- Fact-Checker Brian Gutierrez
