Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour tonight for Daylight Savings Time! Otherwise, you might accidentally come to the show an hour early. Speaking of that, I wonder why the gem shows always seem to fall on Daylight Savings Time weekend.
turquoise
Chemical Composition of Gemstones
Here’s a neat infographic from Compound Interest (one of my favorite websites) that describes 16 different gemstones and why they have different colors. It also includes their chemical formulas and hardness on the Mohs scale.
Many gemstones would be colorless or a different color if not for the presence of small amounts of transition metals such as chromium or titanium. For example, you can see that aquamarine and emerald both have the same chemical formula Be3Al2(SiO3)6, but emeralds are green because of chromium ions replacing some of the aluminum ions and aquamarines are blue because of iron 2+ or 3+ ions replacing some of the aluminum ions. Click through to read the whole article, because there are many other ways that gems and minerals get their colors!
What time is it? Time to get a rock clock!
This clock was made with turquoise chips in resin and a craft store clock kit. It belongs to Show-Me Rockhounds member David Reed.
Don’t forget to set your clocks forward 1 hour tonight for Daylight Savings Time!