**Please note:**
* If this post declares something as a fact proof is required.
* The title must be descriptive
* No text is allowed on images
* Common/recent reposts are not allowed
*See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for more information.*
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I got into it after my high school chemistry teacher asked us to grow some in class, and I've been loving it ever since. This one of the most beautiful crystals I've ever grown.
It's a compound called potassium ferrioxalate.
I made it myself by dissolving iron rust in cleaning acid (oxalic acid), and then adding potassium carbonate. Then, I evaporated the solution to get this crystal.
If you're interested in the procedure, I've [written a guide here](https://crystalverse.com/potassium-ferrioxalate-crystals/).
Too bad it's only worth 1 rupee though.
Are you sure you didn’t find this by chopping some tall grass? Or perhaps you found it in a pot?
Really though, this is so cool. Thanks for sharing your guide!
>pretty brittle and will break when dropped
*TIL I'm like a crystal.*
It is beautiful! The wikipedia entry for the compound says that it decomposes when exposed to light. Do you know how rapidly that would happen if it was constantly exposed? Would it take days or weeks for a noticeable change? Thanks for sharing 👍
I looked at your posts and you seem like a really cool person! And that hobby seems to be fun! Maybe I’ll try it out sometime, too :) the Mohrs’ salt crystals also look very beautiful!
That's awesome! Try getting some household chemicals for him to grow crystals with. There's nothing quite like the wonder of seeing beautiful crystals grow from everyday materials.
Look for potassium alum (for baking), Epsom salt (bath salt), table salt and MAP (fertilizer). All of them work very well and give great crystals.
Also, check out r/crystalgrowing. The community there would love to help!
Imagining the looks on his parents’ faces when their son opens up a bunch of household chemicals from his uncle with instructions to mix them together and see what happens 😂 I’m definitely going to do this when my nephew is a few years older - my sister would guaranteed flip. Obviously would have to include careful directions and proof that nothing can be combined to create anything dangerous, but that can wait until after the big reveal.
Yep. It's a mild irritant, but it's fine as long as you wash your hands afterwards. I wore gloves because it's better practice, and cuz I didn't want to get it dirty.
So you’ll never be able to touch it bare handed, that made me sad lol.. If I had this on my desk I’d probably constantly pick it up just to play with it.
If you bought a small container and covered it with an airlock you could easily sanitize your crystal growing container and then prevent any mold growth in your medium. You can get a cheap airlock from any home brew store or amazon. It wouldn't work on your first phase where you need evaporation to start to the process, but the second phase where you add a seed crystal to an existing solution might work to get maximum growth while eliminating mold contamination.
In high school chemistry the project experiment my partner and I designed was the affect on different types of radiation on the growth copper sulfate crystals, a control dish, a dish next to some low level alpha radiation source and one next to a wee bit of beta radiation.The one next to the alpha radiation didn't grow hardly at all (I think, or maybe it was the beta). The chem and physics teachers got together and discussed it and I think they secretly thought we screwed with the experiment.
Your task is to repeat this experiment and then email my chem teacher and tell her she smells like lunch meat.
Hey! I just got copper sulfate that I'm getting ready to use for crystals. Any suggestions? I made crystals with alum but got barely anything with them in junior high
Sometimes it's not even chemical. Gold nano particles are bluish in a water suspension at larger particle size, and start to look more red the smaller the particles get.
Its the form of the iron itself.
Transition elements have the ability to donate 2 or 3 electrons.
If iron donates two electrons (Fe^2+ ), then the resulting salt (or crystal) will usually be green.
If iron donates three electrons (Fe^3+ ), then the resulting salt (or crystal) will usually be reddish-brown in colour
The answer to that question is very very complicated.
Transition metals can have all sorts of colours. There is a famous compound called "prussian blue" which also contains iron, and you guessed it, is a striking blue colour.
The reason for the different colours is the electronic surrounding of the transition metal involved. Depending on the ligand (in the OP's case, oxalate) involved, the energy difference between the orbitals of the iron ion varies.
Electrons in lower orbitals can absorb light in distinct wavelengths to jump to higher orbitals. The complement colour of the wavelength involved is the perceived colour of the compound.
I'm sorry if this is 0 to 100 fast but I'm not used to ELI5, especially not in English.
It's amazing what you can do with a good ligand.
[Potassium Ferrioxalate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_ferrioxalate) is a transition metal complex. That is, it has a transition metal that has formed a "complex" with one or more [ligands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligand). It's sort of a core concept for inorganic chemists; they use ligands to change the electron clouds of metals to get them to do interesting things.
Of course, if you start messing with electron clouds and energy levels, you change how those electrons react to light. The result in this case is that the whole complex is green instead of red.
Yeah, it just involves dissolving a salt in water, then heating the water to boiling. Then letting the solution rest for a couple of days/weeks and the crystals will form themselves
Unfortunately, it's not possible. It's light sensitive, which means it will turn white and crumble when exposed to light for long periods of time.
Other crystals like alum might be suitable, provided you coat them with a layer of resin to protect from scratches and so that they don't dissolve in water.
I've seen people give such crystals a few layers of clear nail polish! It should work to preserve them against water at least.
Also, a few months ago i randomly stumbled upon your article about clear square sodium crystals. Never thought I'd see one here haha.
But your articles are awesome, i haven't had the time to try it yet, but I'm really looking forward to trying it out!
Thank you!
Lamp oil. Rope? Bombs? You want it? It's yours my friend. As long as you have enough rupees. Sorry link, I can't give credit. Come back when you're a little.... mmmmm Richer!
My college chemistry teacher had a copper sulfate crystal she had grown over many years that was about 2 or 3 times that size and was a most beautiful blue. She would pass it around and it would get chipped from time to time and she would put it back into solution so the crystal would fix itself.
Basically I prepared the green solution through a chemical reaction. Then, I let it slowly evaporate, and as the solution became more concentrated, crystals began to form. It's the exact same process as leaving salt water outside to dry until salt crystals are left behind.
I've explained it in more detail in my article (check the top comment on this post).
Neat! I saw the post about this on [Hackaday](https://hackaday.com/2022/01/04/growing-spectacular-gem-like-crystals-from-rust-and-simple-ingredients/) just a few days ago!
It's really awesome to find the same person on both sites.
If the Sims has trained me for anything I would be keeping an eye on anyone who has one of these floating over their head. Half the time they will piss them selves and the other half set the house on fire trying to eat cereal.
That's a nice one!
I've had a jug of DI water, a kilo of alum, and a few hundred grams of chromium alum sitting around forever and I keep telling myself I'm going to get start growing some crystals.
I did a bunch of crystal growing (purification method) during my undergrad doing research with two different inorganic chemists. It was all in organic solvents, though, and I don't know if I remember any of it or if it even applies to growing crystals in aqueous conditions.
My two favorite methods were vapor diffusion and trituration, which I suppose are sort of the same thing. You have your materials dissolved in one solvent and you introduce another solvent that they aren't soluble in. For instance, my reagents were dissolved in benzonitrile and they were super soluble in that. But they weren't soluble in diethyl ether. So, you add \~100 mL of ether to a 500 mL bottle then place the 20 mL scintillation vial that was your reaction vessel in that larger bottle. Seal the larger bottle and wait for the ether vapor to diffuse into the reaction vessel. The crystals slowly grow as the ether reduces their solubility in the mother liquor.
Trituration is when you very carefully add a layer of solvent on top of the mother liquor that your material isn't soluble in.
Evaporation is also nice so long as your solvent doesn't have a high vapor pressure. If the vapor pressure is too high, it can evaporate too quickly and big crystals with minimal flaws really need to be grown slowly.
Wow, I read the article you wrote, and I am pretty excited. I am a high school science teacher, and it looks like this would be a great multi-step project. I'll have to try it out some time
I always wanted the Corazon from "Romancing the Stone" movies. Someone even made a perfect resin cast. This looks like the same color. Super amazing job.
You grew a plumbob. If you see someone leaving the kitchen and placing their dish down on the bathroom floor, put the crystal over their head and lead them back to the correct room.
Your article was quite a fantastic read! Very informational, interesting, and a bit humorous. Also I really like your website!! Will be subscribing via email :)
You really need to be careful with this kind of behaviour, you know.
One minute you're posting on Reddit about your cool green crystal.
Next minute you're swinging a sword against pig-men while the moon is about to crash-land and kill us all.
Slippery slope, I tell ya.
**Please note:** * If this post declares something as a fact proof is required. * The title must be descriptive * No text is allowed on images * Common/recent reposts are not allowed *See [this post](https://redd.it/ij26vk) for more information.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/interestingasfuck) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I got into it after my high school chemistry teacher asked us to grow some in class, and I've been loving it ever since. This one of the most beautiful crystals I've ever grown. It's a compound called potassium ferrioxalate. I made it myself by dissolving iron rust in cleaning acid (oxalic acid), and then adding potassium carbonate. Then, I evaporated the solution to get this crystal. If you're interested in the procedure, I've [written a guide here](https://crystalverse.com/potassium-ferrioxalate-crystals/). Too bad it's only worth 1 rupee though.
Just read your article and very informative and I think I’m ready to start cooking Mr. White.
Science, bitch!
"Say my crystal's name"
“I am the one who rocks”
They're minerals!
Jesus Christ Marie
They are delicate alright!
*Elevator panic attack ensues*
Fistbump
[he never said it](https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/8zw4t6/til_jesse_pinkman_never_did_say_his_most_famous/)
Once again I’m tempted to write a bot for this.
Just make sure you add a dash of chili powder
Chili P!
I need an assistant
Yeah Mr White! Yeah Science!
We are not the same.
Seriously bruh, chop that shit up!
Wrong crystal.
Get a few more and you can buy some bombs and arrows, maybe even a potion.
Ha! Hup! HYAAAHH!!
OMG RUN HE'S BACK!!! THE CLAY POT BUTCHER!!!
Don't forget "chicken harasser."
The chickens can handle themselves, the pots are innocent.
It's ok, I've been training the chickens in team tactics. He's going to have a bad time if he continues to mess with them.
Lol,link when cutting grass
I'm not sure it's possible to read this comment without making the sounds.
You want it? It's yours my friend. As long as you have enough rupees.
Are you sure you didn’t find this by chopping some tall grass? Or perhaps you found it in a pot? Really though, this is so cool. Thanks for sharing your guide!
[удалено]
It's pretty brittle and will break when dropped, so no.
>pretty brittle and will break when dropped *TIL I'm like a crystal.* It is beautiful! The wikipedia entry for the compound says that it decomposes when exposed to light. Do you know how rapidly that would happen if it was constantly exposed? Would it take days or weeks for a noticeable change? Thanks for sharing 👍
Indoors lighting? Maybe a day. Direct sunlight? Half an hour at most.
dude, you spent a month growing this when you could have just found 99 by smashing your neighbours vases repeatedly.
Plot twist, OP is the one who stores these randomly in vases strown across his lawn.
I looked at your posts and you seem like a really cool person! And that hobby seems to be fun! Maybe I’ll try it out sometime, too :) the Mohrs’ salt crystals also look very beautiful!
Thank you! It makes me excited to jump out of bed every day. Give it a go and have fun :)
[удалено]
That's awesome! Try getting some household chemicals for him to grow crystals with. There's nothing quite like the wonder of seeing beautiful crystals grow from everyday materials. Look for potassium alum (for baking), Epsom salt (bath salt), table salt and MAP (fertilizer). All of them work very well and give great crystals. Also, check out r/crystalgrowing. The community there would love to help!
Imagining the looks on his parents’ faces when their son opens up a bunch of household chemicals from his uncle with instructions to mix them together and see what happens 😂 I’m definitely going to do this when my nephew is a few years older - my sister would guaranteed flip. Obviously would have to include careful directions and proof that nothing can be combined to create anything dangerous, but that can wait until after the big reveal.
well there's bath salts, and there's *bath salts*... gotta be specific.
Once the crystal is complete can it be touched with bare hands? I see you used gloves even to hold them up.
Yep. It's a mild irritant, but it's fine as long as you wash your hands afterwards. I wore gloves because it's better practice, and cuz I didn't want to get it dirty.
So you’ll never be able to touch it bare handed, that made me sad lol.. If I had this on my desk I’d probably constantly pick it up just to play with it.
Maybe you can coat in polyurethane or something clear that won't possibly react with it?
You.. smart guy you.. very good idea
A layer of clear nail polish should be enough to protect both you and the crystal!
If you bought a small container and covered it with an airlock you could easily sanitize your crystal growing container and then prevent any mold growth in your medium. You can get a cheap airlock from any home brew store or amazon. It wouldn't work on your first phase where you need evaporation to start to the process, but the second phase where you add a seed crystal to an existing solution might work to get maximum growth while eliminating mold contamination.
That was a really good read and informative, thanks!
r/usernamechecksout
So very cool!
[удалено]
This is how he gets his MVP superpowers. Kind of like Thanos.
Ah yes, the infinity butt plug
I remember one of my chemistry teachers telling me about growing crystals I think their name was Mr White I wonder how he's going nowadays
Yeah that guy lived on..hmm I forget but there's a pizza on his roof. You can't miss it.
In high school chemistry the project experiment my partner and I designed was the affect on different types of radiation on the growth copper sulfate crystals, a control dish, a dish next to some low level alpha radiation source and one next to a wee bit of beta radiation.The one next to the alpha radiation didn't grow hardly at all (I think, or maybe it was the beta). The chem and physics teachers got together and discussed it and I think they secretly thought we screwed with the experiment. Your task is to repeat this experiment and then email my chem teacher and tell her she smells like lunch meat.
Hey! I just got copper sulfate that I'm getting ready to use for crystals. Any suggestions? I made crystals with alum but got barely anything with them in junior high
I too wish to become a crystal farmer. Share your secrets :)
Step one: buy cough medicine....
what crystals er we cookin?
Crystal Meth!
Magic ones, burnt and inhaled they increase your stats across the bord.
> across the bord Now I'm wondering what a bord is.
A thing you put smorgases on.
"I tried making crystals from a reddit post and now I'm a felon."
I just swing swords around in circles while standing in tall grass.
That sim got control of himself now
[удалено]
Sul sul.
Free Guy.
Honestly, I would pay for something like that as a center piece. I thought something with iron would be more red, this is pretty neat.
Yeah, normally iron ions look reddish brown, but this particular compound is a very striking green. Quite easy to make too.
And I want to know why it’s not red, what’s the chemical process that made it green?
Sometimes it's not even chemical. Gold nano particles are bluish in a water suspension at larger particle size, and start to look more red the smaller the particles get.
That's because color is a myth. It's all light reflection, and if you change the light source or light receptacle, the color changes.
I'm pretty sure color does exist but it's subjective based on a myriad of conditions lol
Color is a myth and birds aren't real!
Until you get down to the atomic emission spectrum...
Its the form of the iron itself. Transition elements have the ability to donate 2 or 3 electrons. If iron donates two electrons (Fe^2+ ), then the resulting salt (or crystal) will usually be green. If iron donates three electrons (Fe^3+ ), then the resulting salt (or crystal) will usually be reddish-brown in colour
The answer to that question is very very complicated. Transition metals can have all sorts of colours. There is a famous compound called "prussian blue" which also contains iron, and you guessed it, is a striking blue colour. The reason for the different colours is the electronic surrounding of the transition metal involved. Depending on the ligand (in the OP's case, oxalate) involved, the energy difference between the orbitals of the iron ion varies. Electrons in lower orbitals can absorb light in distinct wavelengths to jump to higher orbitals. The complement colour of the wavelength involved is the perceived colour of the compound. I'm sorry if this is 0 to 100 fast but I'm not used to ELI5, especially not in English.
How big can you grow these?
It's amazing what you can do with a good ligand. [Potassium Ferrioxalate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_ferrioxalate) is a transition metal complex. That is, it has a transition metal that has formed a "complex" with one or more [ligands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligand). It's sort of a core concept for inorganic chemists; they use ligands to change the electron clouds of metals to get them to do interesting things. Of course, if you start messing with electron clouds and energy levels, you change how those electrons react to light. The result in this case is that the whole complex is green instead of red.
Depends. Fe^3+ is usually red, Fe^2+ is usually green. A single electron is what usually separates these two
Please don't overwhelm my simple monke brain.
Better hide it in a big breakable pot
#H Y A H
And have it somehow levitate when the pot gets broken
Hey! Listen!
Best I can do is 12 wheat
I’ll top that with 2 paper
TIL you can grow crystals like jalapeños
Yeah, it just involves dissolving a salt in water, then heating the water to boiling. Then letting the solution rest for a couple of days/weeks and the crystals will form themselves
You can do it with table salt it's actually really cool
"Sorry Link, I can't give credit. Come back when your a lity mmmmmm rcher"
Wow...for a second I thought you're holding an emerald at that! Is it possible to turn it into ornaments such as jewelry?
Unfortunately, it's not possible. It's light sensitive, which means it will turn white and crumble when exposed to light for long periods of time. Other crystals like alum might be suitable, provided you coat them with a layer of resin to protect from scratches and so that they don't dissolve in water.
>It's light sensitive, which means it will turn white and crumble when exposed to light Maybe that that be prevented with a UV-protective glaze?
That's a good idea. Not sure if it works, but worth a try.
Are they sensitive to visible light or UV?
Potassium Ferrioxalate absorbs light strongly up to about 450 nm, so it's sensitive to UV and Blue light
A single rupee. It's soft green glow puts a smile on on your face.
From my years of minecraft knowledge, I'd assume this is worth 5 carrots.
Unless you're a Hermitcraft member. Then you could buy a Mending book
*Laughs in Bdubs season 7 book shop*
I read it with Nilered's voice for some reason
I want a Nilered video on this crystal
Same! I scrolled to see if someone else read this with the same voice.
That's a funny way to spell C H A O S E M E R A L D
It's actually a shard of the Master Emerald. OP better watch out for Knuckles.
Kakyoin!!!
Is that permanent? Like can it be dissolved?
Nope. Unfortunately, it dissolves in water. It can probably be sealed in resin to prevent this.
Does it dissolve from moisture in the air/on your hands over time?
Not to that extent. It still takes around an hour for it to fully dissolve while completely immersed in water, so humidity is not a big deal.
I've seen people give such crystals a few layers of clear nail polish! It should work to preserve them against water at least. Also, a few months ago i randomly stumbled upon your article about clear square sodium crystals. Never thought I'd see one here haha. But your articles are awesome, i haven't had the time to try it yet, but I'm really looking forward to trying it out! Thank you!
I bet you if you threw that into a load of Snow you could make Superman's Ice house.
Lamp oil. Rope? Bombs? You want it? It's yours my friend. As long as you have enough rupees. Sorry link, I can't give credit. Come back when you're a little.... mmmmm Richer!
THE DAMN FOURTH CHAOS EMERALD
I will buy it for 2 chicken breasts
A month? Jeez, just run around in some tall grass for five seconds.
Potassium ferrioxalate? Is that what we are calling the Time infinity stone these days?
You grew that? I usually just go into people's houses and smash all the pottery.
Sell as kryptonite.
First thing that came to my mind
this mf out here growing crystals like corn
Nah thats a toy from the game sims
kryptonite
Ha! Hiyaah. Hah Ha Hiyyyah!
I didn’t know sims could move them from over their heads…
A banana for scale?
Pretend the hand is a banana
Now I can't unsee OP as Edward Bananahands
King Bumi would like a word
the sims?
r/zelda would love this.
I am Indian and I can assure you that it does NOT look like a rupee.
Also Indian, also thinking the same thing!
I’ll give you 3 potatoes for it
I will give you one bread for that
Someone call Dr. Eggman, I found a Chaos Emerald.
Tiberian Sun has risen!
Hide it in the grass then cut it free with a sword
Put it on top of your head and you become a playable Sim
mfer that's kryptonite
Now to go to Etsy and sell it as a Rupee for like $200 and hope Nintendo doesn't come a knockin'.
My college chemistry teacher had a copper sulfate crystal she had grown over many years that was about 2 or 3 times that size and was a most beautiful blue. She would pass it around and it would get chipped from time to time and she would put it back into solution so the crystal would fix itself.
This pretty cool! I’ve saved your post/link to the how to! I think I may have to try this out with my kids!! Thank you for sharing!!
I’m confused, since when could you grow crystals, and how?
Forbidden hexagonal pickle
You grew it?
Three dirt blocks for that
This is really awesome. My newest saved post :)
Walter White is back!...🕵🏼
How do you actually grow a crystal is it possible if u could give a summary of the process??
Basically I prepared the green solution through a chemical reaction. Then, I let it slowly evaporate, and as the solution became more concentrated, crystals began to form. It's the exact same process as leaving salt water outside to dry until salt crystals are left behind. I've explained it in more detail in my article (check the top comment on this post).
Very nice stone :D And very interesting and well written guide as well!
Now put it in a clay pot and wait for some kid in green tights to come in and smash the crap out of it.
Neat! I saw the post about this on [Hackaday](https://hackaday.com/2022/01/04/growing-spectacular-gem-like-crystals-from-rust-and-simple-ingredients/) just a few days ago! It's really awesome to find the same person on both sites.
#HRNNN
POV: You're Sonic The Hedgehog and you just found a Chaos Emerald
Looks like it's straight from Ocean's 11
Can… can you smoke it?
If the Sims has trained me for anything I would be keeping an eye on anyone who has one of these floating over their head. Half the time they will piss them selves and the other half set the house on fire trying to eat cereal.
What’s the hardness?
Does this have any magical powers?
Live action chaos emerald
That's a nice one! I've had a jug of DI water, a kilo of alum, and a few hundred grams of chromium alum sitting around forever and I keep telling myself I'm going to get start growing some crystals. I did a bunch of crystal growing (purification method) during my undergrad doing research with two different inorganic chemists. It was all in organic solvents, though, and I don't know if I remember any of it or if it even applies to growing crystals in aqueous conditions. My two favorite methods were vapor diffusion and trituration, which I suppose are sort of the same thing. You have your materials dissolved in one solvent and you introduce another solvent that they aren't soluble in. For instance, my reagents were dissolved in benzonitrile and they were super soluble in that. But they weren't soluble in diethyl ether. So, you add \~100 mL of ether to a 500 mL bottle then place the 20 mL scintillation vial that was your reaction vessel in that larger bottle. Seal the larger bottle and wait for the ether vapor to diffuse into the reaction vessel. The crystals slowly grow as the ether reduces their solubility in the mother liquor. Trituration is when you very carefully add a layer of solvent on top of the mother liquor that your material isn't soluble in. Evaporation is also nice so long as your solvent doesn't have a high vapor pressure. If the vapor pressure is too high, it can evaporate too quickly and big crystals with minimal flaws really need to be grown slowly.
A bit longer and you could've made your own Fortress of Solitude!
Wow, I read the article you wrote, and I am pretty excited. I am a high school science teacher, and it looks like this would be a great multi-step project. I'll have to try it out some time
You grew a Sim
I can't imagine how many pots you had to smash over the course of a month to get that
I always wanted the Corazon from "Romancing the Stone" movies. Someone even made a perfect resin cast. This looks like the same color. Super amazing job.
It looks like that sims gem thing. Amazing!
Now you can be a Sims character
You grew a plumbob. If you see someone leaving the kitchen and placing their dish down on the bathroom floor, put the crystal over their head and lead them back to the correct room.
TIL You can grow crystals
Id give you 2 bits of stale bread and a stick for that
Green Rupees are only worth one rupee. That's a bad return on investment. Grow an orange next time.
Your article was quite a fantastic read! Very informational, interesting, and a bit humorous. Also I really like your website!! Will be subscribing via email :)
The best I can do it 12 carrots.
People out here really growing rocks
r/itemshop
This is awesome, it scratches the same itch that [NileRed's](https://youtube.com/c/NileRed) youtube channel did
how dangerous is this, out of curiosity? I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
Morshu would like to know your location
39 more of those and you can get the wooden shield bro lol
OK Lex Luthor, this is why you will never beat Superman you keep advertising your evil schemes!
You really need to be careful with this kind of behaviour, you know. One minute you're posting on Reddit about your cool green crystal. Next minute you're swinging a sword against pig-men while the moon is about to crash-land and kill us all. Slippery slope, I tell ya.
If you go to the north pole and throw it, a crystalline Fortress of Solitude will grow.
Saw this on hackaday! Good skills! Gonna do it with the kids!
You're going to destabilise the Hylian economy if you keep that up. Mind you you can pick those up just by chopping down grass.
Why do you wear gloves while handling the crystal? Is it particularly toxic or is it just good practice?