How hot ro melt quartz to liquid
Because of it's hardness, it's harder than pretty much all other materials in its surrounding area, making it resistant to erosion due to weather etc.
Because the atoms of the elements are bound more tightly, silicate minerals usually resist weathering more effectively. Quartz is a fine example of this resistance. It is made of 47% silicon and 53% oxygen. Most beach sand is quartz because of its resistance to weathering by water and air. As a rock moves its way from a boulder to a pebble, and works its way toward the ocean, only the tough quartz grains stay unchanged. Meanwhile, most other grains turn to clay minerals Deserts are full of quartz grains we call sand. If winds are persistant, the constant impact of quartz grains can weather solid, softer rocks. This can even create notches at the base of a cliff or boulder. It can create a flat, smooth surface on the windward side. Sand dunes are made from plenty of sand and persistant wind. The shape of the dune depends on the lay of the land, nature of the sand, and strength of the wind. The sand itself, from dunes made of quartz grains, is not easily weathered. However, each individual sand particle is easily eroded, that is, moved to a new and different location. So when thinking of quartz, we must not get confused - each grain is highly resistant to weathering but can be easily eroded by wind.
A lot of it has to do with the molecular structure of quartz, which is very strong and stable (you might do a little research on this). Also, taking it from another angle, quartz is one of the last minerals to form as igneous minerals crystalize out of the magma. Because it forms at temperatures and pressures closer to those at the earth's surface it is more resistant to breaking down under those same conditions.
