A crystal

Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...

 depending upon its chemical composition, bonding power, atmospheric pressure

Atmospheric pressure

Atmospheric pressure is the force per unit area exerted into a surface by the weight of air above that surface in the atmosphere of Earth . In most circumstances atmospheric pressure is closely approximated by the hydrostatic pressure caused by the weight of air above the measurement point...

 and ambient environment form clusters. A crystal cluster is the development of a crystal system

Crystal system

In crystallography, the terms crystal system, crystal family, and lattice system each refer to one of several classes of space groups, lattices, point groups, or crystals...

 and is also known as a crystal family. Though crystal family as a technical term in crystallography

Crystallography

Crystallography is the experimental science of the arrangement of atoms in solids. The word "crystallography" derives from the Greek words crystallon = cold drop / frozen drop, with its meaning extending to all solids with some degree of transparency, and grapho = write.Before the development of...

 is a matrix of probabilities determining the range of possible crystal formation and lattice structure. Crystal cluster is a non-technical term and generally used in the community.

Further reading

• "Mechanical and Physical Properties of Whiskers", CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 55th edition.