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crystal polymorphism
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ability of a solid material to exist in more than one form or crystal structure
~20 min read
Encyclopedic overview
In crystallography, polymorphism is a phenomenon where a compound or element can crystallize into more than one crystal structure. The definition of polymorphism has evolved over the years and as of 2015 is still under discussion. The discussion involves distinguishing among types of transitions and structural changes occurring in polymorphism versus those occurring in other phenomena.
Overview
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “crystal polymorphism” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.