Symmetries in Crystal Structure
The solid substances existing in nature can be divided into two categories: crystalline and amorphous. The essential difference between crystalline and amorphous structures is how the atoms, ions, molecules, and other particles that make up the structures are arranged. Crystals are regularly arranged (long program), while the particles in amorphous substances are stacked together irregularly (short program). In the field of crystallography, researchers study the symmetry of crystal structures in order to perform data collection and categorize substances. However, what is missing from the chemistry-only approach to crystallography is understanding the group structure. Mathematics allows us to organize crystal structures through group theory and rigid motion analysis.
Ethics in Crystallography
Crystallography is often used in novel research, and our understanding of crystals is constantly improving. Also, almost any material can be crystalized, so crystallography applications are widespread. Moreover, the classification of crystals, which is what we are doing by analyzing crystal symmetry, is essential because many properties of crystals are determined by what groups they fall under or what types of symmetry they have. Crystallography has often been used to find important information about the world around us, such as the applications of x-rays, the discovery of penicillin, or the way DNA replicates.
Many people believe that the next steps in scientific discovery lie behind the discovery of new materials with more desirable properties. This is important to crystallography because the symmetry groups of a crystal affect its tensor groups, which describe a material’s physical properties. With that in mind, crystallography will continue to be a critical area of study in the near future. With the many benefits of crystallography research, it is hard to find enough downsides to outweigh the interest in the area. However, a couple of problems arise, such as the legitimacy of synthesized crystals, the environmental impact of crystal mining, and how crystal synthesizing affects job availability in different parts of the world.
While synthesized crystals have been proposed as an alternative to mined crystals for uses such as jewelry, many people oppose the notion of lab-made crystals and gems. Some people refuse to buy synthesized crystals because they mean less or are less legitimate, while others say it is unethical. The reliance on synthesizing crystals can take away jobs and devastates communities that depend on mining as the primary driver of their economies. On top of that, synthesizing crystals produces more CO2 emissions than mining does. So the positive impact on the environment is still under debate. However, the mining industry has recently declined due to publications and movies about the unethical practices of many mining companies, such as child labor, terrible pay, and dangerous working conditions. Thus, whether ethical or not, we are seeing a steadily growing percentage of crystals made in labs rather than mined.
