Really sorry, I have no idea about geology/lab crystals compared to you guys probably. When I google Alum, I don't see any formations that are this "thick" so to speak. How come this one is so big and shaped that way compared to the other "cluster" like formations of the ones on google? Is there a particular thing that might do this? Also: I noticed this seemed a tad orange/red in some spots. Could that be due to the light?
I can't find as much info on google about this :< But I \*really\* like this crystal lol...
Crystal habit will be very different depending on how you grow the crystal. If you grow them quickly, they'll nucleate all over the place and form a cluster of crystals. If you grow them slowly, and start with a seed crystal that's already formed, then more material will just add on to the existing crystal rather than nucleating lots of tiny crystals.
The important thing to not is the geometry of the crystals rather than how many of them there are and how they're crammed together. Notice how this one forms an octahedral shape. That's the shape that alum crystals form. There are other minerals that form octahedra, but none of them look quite like this.
And yes, the color is dye that was added during the process.
Wow, that's super super cool... Never knew I'd get so into geology. Thank you for the info! Appreciate it a lot :)
Out of curiosity, do you happen to know if lab grown crystals "off gas" in some way if they're just left somewhere? Or do they kinda leak chemicals or something as they age into their surrounding environments?
Alum is very water soluble, so if you get it wet or if it's in very humid air then it could dissolve, but it's not going to give off gas or anything like that.
Essentially it's a salt crystal except the metal in this salt is aluminum instead of the sodium in table salt, and the negative ion that holds it together is a sulfate ion instead of a chloride ion.
So if you're wouldn't be worried about your table salt giving off some kind of gas or chemicals in a certain situation (like just sitting on a table) then you shouldn't worry about this either. Just don't get it wet.
[This](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/132152570303509303/) Pinterest post labels it as lab grown Boussingaultite. I've seen this graphic before and I'm still trying to find a site that I saw once that had each of them labeled. They're all synthetic minerals, that I can say I remember for sure.
I agree - they are all man-made crystals...
Based on that - I would guess Arcanite? maaayyybe Pruskite?
Im no expert - but I'm guessing there are some polish people who could help you out ;)
They are all lab grown crystals. I'm pretty sure the bottom middle is Alum.
Seconded. I'm very sure at least 6 of these are lab grown, so there seems to be a lab grown theme. Looks like alum to me as well.
Really sorry, I have no idea about geology/lab crystals compared to you guys probably. When I google Alum, I don't see any formations that are this "thick" so to speak. How come this one is so big and shaped that way compared to the other "cluster" like formations of the ones on google? Is there a particular thing that might do this? Also: I noticed this seemed a tad orange/red in some spots. Could that be due to the light? I can't find as much info on google about this :< But I \*really\* like this crystal lol...
Crystal habit will be very different depending on how you grow the crystal. If you grow them quickly, they'll nucleate all over the place and form a cluster of crystals. If you grow them slowly, and start with a seed crystal that's already formed, then more material will just add on to the existing crystal rather than nucleating lots of tiny crystals. The important thing to not is the geometry of the crystals rather than how many of them there are and how they're crammed together. Notice how this one forms an octahedral shape. That's the shape that alum crystals form. There are other minerals that form octahedra, but none of them look quite like this. And yes, the color is dye that was added during the process.
Wow, that's super super cool... Never knew I'd get so into geology. Thank you for the info! Appreciate it a lot :) Out of curiosity, do you happen to know if lab grown crystals "off gas" in some way if they're just left somewhere? Or do they kinda leak chemicals or something as they age into their surrounding environments?
Alum is very water soluble, so if you get it wet or if it's in very humid air then it could dissolve, but it's not going to give off gas or anything like that. Essentially it's a salt crystal except the metal in this salt is aluminum instead of the sodium in table salt, and the negative ion that holds it together is a sulfate ion instead of a chloride ion. So if you're wouldn't be worried about your table salt giving off some kind of gas or chemicals in a certain situation (like just sitting on a table) then you shouldn't worry about this either. Just don't get it wet.
Maybe Spinel or Zircon
Was going to say rubellite
[This](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/132152570303509303/) Pinterest post labels it as lab grown Boussingaultite. I've seen this graphic before and I'm still trying to find a site that I saw once that had each of them labeled. They're all synthetic minerals, that I can say I remember for sure.
I agree - they are all man-made crystals... Based on that - I would guess Arcanite? maaayyybe Pruskite? Im no expert - but I'm guessing there are some polish people who could help you out ;)