Amethyst
Aug 30, 2015 • 7:18 PM UTC
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140x Magnification
Plants
Diana
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Amethyst is variety of quartz with hues of violet and purple. Mostly found in Brazil and Uruguay, amethyst often has crystal growth patterns.
Fun fact: Amethyst will fade when left in the sunlight & when heated in high temperatures, amethyst will turn yellow/orange.
To prepare this sample, I crushed a small piece of amethyst with a hammer and taped the shards to a paper slide. These images were taken with the Foldscope low mag lens.
What initially struck me was the way light reflects through the cracks and ridges, showing beautiful purples, blues & greens.
Fun fact: Amethyst will fade when left in the sunlight & when heated in high temperatures, amethyst will turn yellow/orange.
To prepare this sample, I crushed a small piece of amethyst with a hammer and taped the shards to a paper slide. These images were taken with the Foldscope low mag lens.
What initially struck me was the way light reflects through the cracks and ridges, showing beautiful purples, blues & greens.
The dark lines in the middle are cracks that remind me of huge fractures in the earth.
The Foldscope was able to capture incredible details.
Look at the tiny points at the top of the “hill”.
– Would we be able to detect any difference of texture by touching this spot?
The left side looks mostly smooth except for some microscopic specks on the slope.
– Are these textures naturally occurring from crystal formation or created when crushing the rock with the hammer?
I would love to get the proper tools to cut stones into slices to observe their natural imperfections and textures. In the meantime, I’ll continue to crush more rocks and enjoy looking at the crumbs!
Until now amethyst was just a pretty stone for my rock collection or worn as jewelry. Foldscope showed me a micro-landscape resembling our earth’s surface!
Look at the tiny points at the top of the “hill”.
– Would we be able to detect any difference of texture by touching this spot?
The left side looks mostly smooth except for some microscopic specks on the slope.
– Are these textures naturally occurring from crystal formation or created when crushing the rock with the hammer?
I would love to get the proper tools to cut stones into slices to observe their natural imperfections and textures. In the meantime, I’ll continue to crush more rocks and enjoy looking at the crumbs!
Until now amethyst was just a pretty stone for my rock collection or worn as jewelry. Foldscope showed me a micro-landscape resembling our earth’s surface!
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