Soil Mineral Terms and Definitions

Crystal. A crystal is made up of ions with a certain arrangement which repeats itself indefinitely. 

Amorphous (noncrystal). An amorphous material is made up of ions without any repeating arrangement. 

Makeup of crystals. Soil mineral crystals are made out of ions. However, not all crystals are made out of ions. Exceptions include sulfur crystals (which are made of S atoms), diamonds (which are made out of carbon atoms), and asphalt crystals (which are made out of large organic molecules arranged in a repeating fashion). 

How does one understand clays Most substances in nature are understood by their reactivity with other substances. For example, 

---