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What is unusually pure sand doing inside a chip factory?

Some exceptionally pure quartz used in chipmaking becomes the container, rather than the chip. Fused-quartz crucibles hold molten silicon while a crystal is grown, so the materials surrounding that silicon matter too. This hidden role gives an ordinary-looking mineral a place in an extraordinarily demanding manufacturing process.

3–5 min

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  • SibelcoHigh Purity Quartz

    The material producer explains where high-purity quartz is used in the crucibles that support silicon-crystal growth.

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Chemistry and materials

What does hard water leave behind in a kettle?

Water can carry dissolved minerals without looking cloudy. Hardness mainly describes calcium and magnesium in solution, while limescale is a deposit that can form when processes such as heating change the balance.

3–5 min

What does hard water leave behind in a kettle?

Chemistry and materials3–5 minWater can carry dissolved minerals without looking cloudy. Hardness mainly describes calcium and magnesium in solution, while limescale is a deposit that can form when processes such as heating change the balance.

Chemistry and materials

Why does ice take up more room than water?

An ice cube floats in the water it came from, and freezing water can push against its container. Ordinary ice arranges water molecules differently from the liquid, connecting a microscopic pattern with a familiar change in volume.

3–5 min

Why does ice take up more room than water?

Chemistry and materials3–5 minAn ice cube floats in the water it came from, and freezing water can push against its container. Ordinary ice arranges water molecules differently from the liquid, connecting a microscopic pattern with a familiar change in volume.

Chemistry and materials

How can light reveal an element you cannot touch?

A glowing gas can produce a pattern of spectral lines characteristic of its elements. Comparing several lines gives more evidence than spotting one color or one line alone. Scientists use spectra to investigate distant objects, while temperature, motion, and other conditions also affect what they observe.

5–7 min

How can light reveal an element you cannot touch?

Chemistry and materials5–7 minA glowing gas can produce a pattern of spectral lines characteristic of its elements. Comparing several lines gives more evidence than spotting one color or one line alone. Scientists use spectra to investigate distant objects, while temperature, motion, and other conditions also affect what they observe.

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