a.) surface is smooth and clear. The environment was: _____________________b.) surface is pitted [we call it frosted]. The environment was: _______________c.) surface is scratched and striated. The environment was: __________________
Quartz is pretty nonreactive in ambient conditions. If it were put in conditions different from the earths surface it might form new minerals. There are different polymorphs of quartz which are unstable at the earths surface. A polymorph is just a variant of a mineral with a varying structure, usually one that is more stable at conditions where the original mineral is less stable. An example of this is coesite. It has the exact same chemical formula as quartz but it is only present in meteor impact craters because either A) the original quartz in the crater was unstable at such high pressures and temperatures from the impact or B) the meteor had coesite on it. Either way, the quartz found at the earths surface is very nonreactive. It does not interact with acids or oxygen or etc.
