An element is one of a hundred or so materials that can be combined with other elements to make all the substances in the universe. The molecules in a gas or liquid bounce or flow around each other freely. When the material changes into a solid state, the molecules lock together. As they do, they link to one another in a uniform pattern that is repeated over and over. The result is known as a crystal.
Crystals often appear as strange and beautiful geometric shapes.
Quartz, perhaps the most common of the mineral crystals, always grows as six-sided columns. The shape is a direct result of how the quartz molecules prefer to link up. Each quartz molecule is composed of four atoms of oxygen and one of silicon. As long as the crystal is undisturbed by another crystal as it grows, additional molecules join it following a pattern that preserves its six-sided structure. Depending on the molecules involved in making the crystals, different shapes may result.