Kristályt

Kristályt is the Hungarian word for "crystal" in the accusative case. In scientific contexts, a crystal is a solid material whose constituents—atoms, ions, or molecules—are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure that forms a crystal lattice extending in all directions. This long-range order gives crystals characteristic external shapes, cleavages, and anisotropic physical properties.

Crystals form through crystallization, when a substance transitions from a liquid, solution, or gas to a solid with a repeating arrangement. Growth conditions such as temperature, pressure, concentration, and the presence of impurities influence size, purity, and crystal habit. The internal arrangement is described by a unit cell and the crystal systems—cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, hexagonal, trigonal, monoclinic, and triclinic—often categorized by symmetry in space groups.

Common mineral crystals include quartz (SiO2), halite (NaCl), calcite (CaCO3), feldspars, and diamonds; many rocks contain mixed crystals. Some crystals are synthetic, grown for industry, research, or gemstones.

Key properties used to characterize crystals include hardness, cleavage, fracture, refractive index, color, and luster. Crystals can be single grains or aggregates of many crystals, and their appearance is described by crystal habit. In applications, crystals are essential in jewelry, electronics (silicon, quartz), optics (lenses and prisms), and timing devices (crystal oscillators). Crystallography, the study of crystal structures, relies on techniques such as X-ray diffraction to determine how atoms are arranged.

In Hungarian, kristályt is the accusative form of kristály, used when crystal is the direct object of a sentence.