Is crystal an element or compound?

Answer 1

Kind of a tricky question, its best broken into the 2 different ways that the word crystal is used. Crystal can refer to the structure that a compound adopts, there are many different types, the most well known being the structure of salt with what crystallographers call a face centered cubic structure. It is also common to see in reports etc... on the synthesis of organic compounds to say a compound gives white crystals.

It is not correct however to assume that crystals that look similar to the naked eye are indeed the same compound, or that all compounds have a crystalline form.

Answer 2

A crystal can be any of these forms of matter. Crystalline compounds and elements are common, some alloys are crystalline mixtures of two or more metals, and some complex crystals such as zeolites can have varying amounts of different elements included within them.

Answer 3

Crystal is not necessarily either. There are crystals of elements such as diamond (carbon) and many metals. There are also crystals that are compounds including salt, sugar, and quartz (silica).

Answer 4

Crystal is not an element or compound. It is a solid material that has a regular repeating arrangement of atoms or molecules, giving it a distinct geometric shape. Crystals can be made up of different elements or compounds depending on their composition.

Answer 5

Crystals can be elements (as diamond) or compounds (as sapphire).