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Crystals have long-range ordered arrangements of their microscopic constituent particles.

The Claim

A crystal requires particles to be arranged in a highly regular microscopic pattern.

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The Short Version

Crystals require long-range order in the microscopic arrangement of their constituent particles. “Highly regular” accurately conveys this defining feature, provided it is not interpreted as requiring perfect periodic repetition: quasicrystals are aperiodic but still highly ordered. Authoritative crystallography and chemistry definitions directly support the claim.

Caveats

  • “Highly regular” means long-range order, not necessarily strict periodic repetition.
  • Real crystals may contain defects; the arrangement need not be perfectly ordered everywhere.
  • Several cited crystallography sources are related IUCr publications rather than fully independent confirmations.

The Receipts

  1. On the origin of our fascination with crystals

    doi.org

  2. (IUCr) Change to the definition of "crystal" in the IUCr Online Dictionary of Crystallography

    iucr.org

  3. The importance of definitions in crystallography

    journals.iucr.org

  4. What is a crystal to the new chemical crystallographer, after that first, automated structure analysis?

    doi.org

  5. Crystal - Online Dictionary of Crystallography

    dictionary.iucr.org

  6. Ted Janssen and aperiodic crystals

    journals.iucr.org

  7. Quasicrystals

    pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

  8. IUPAC - crystallinity (C01433)

    goldbook.iupac.org

  9. Twenty years of structure research on quasicrystals. Part I. Pentagonal, octagonal, decagonal and dodecagonal quasicrystals

    doi.org

  10. Structures beyond superspace

    doi.org

+ 28 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Crystal