Anticipation of crystallization based on the arrangement of atoms

Abstract

Direct experience shows that the phenomenon of crystallization is a highly complex one, in which various factors play a decisive role. Although, according to Steno's law, the angles between corresponding faces in crystals of the same substance are constant, the appearance of the forms that condition crystallization is far from being completely constant. At first glance, something even contrary seems to be the case. From one and the same substance, one can obtain crystals with a very limited number of pairs of faces, in exceptional cases not even reaching three, and one can also obtain crystals with a very rich combination. The forms that make up the combination also vary greatly in their development, and those very forms which in one case are predominant in terms of their size, in other cases recede into the background or are even completely suppressed by other forms.

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