A question from a 10-year-old girl from Germany
Is there a special crystal that's totally different from all the others?
There sure is! It’s called bismuth, and unlike other crystals, it isn't found in nature. In its original form, bismuth looks like a plain silver metal, but something amazing happens when we take that metal, melt it, then cool it very slowly in a laboratory. As bismuth is being cooled, it starts to form into fun, complex shapes that look like they're from a fairytale! A fully formed bismuth shines in bright rainbow colors, making these “crystals” very interesting to scientists, artists, and collectors.
To create the shapes and colors on these enchanting "crystals," scientists must first melt the bismuth into liquid. Then, they make sure to cool it down as slowly as possible. The slower it cools, the bigger and more beautiful these "crystals" become. As the bismuth finishes cooling, a colorful oxide film forms on its surface, giving it a super cool and magical appearance.
And so, although bismuth is not a crystal at first, with a little scientific magic, it transforms into a magical crystal straight out of a fairytale!