Granite vs. Quartz — What's the Difference?

Granite () is a coarse-grained igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground.

Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical formula of SiO2.

A common, coarse-grained, light-colored, hard igneous rock consisting chiefly of quartz, orthoclase or microcline, and mica, used in monuments and for building.

A very hard mineral composed of silica, SiO2, found worldwide in many different types of rocks, including sandstone and granite. Varieties of quartz include agate, chalcedony, chert, flint, opal, and rock crystal.

Unyielding endurance; steadfastness

(mineral) The most abundant mineral on the earth's surface, of chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO₂. It occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous. Found in every environment.

(rock) A group of igneous and plutonic rocks composed primarily of feldspar and quartz. Usually contains one or more dark minerals, which may be mica, pyroxene, or amphibole. Granite is quarried for building stone, road gravel, decorative stone, and tombstones. Common colors are gray, white, pink, and yellow-brown.

Crystal meth: methamphetamine hydrochloride.

Toughness; the quality of having a thick skin or being rough.

A form of silica, or silicon dioxide (SiO2), occurring in hexagonal crystals, which are commonly colorless and transparent, but sometimes also yellow, brown, purple, green, and of other colors; also in cryptocrystalline massive forms varying in color and degree of transparency, being sometimes opaque.

A crystalline, granular rock, consisting of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and usually of a whitish, grayish, or flesh-red color. It differs from gneiss in not having the mica in planes, and therefore in being destitute of a schistose structure.

Colorless glass made of almost pure silica

Plutonic igneous rock having visibly crystalline texture; generally composed of feldspar and mica and quartz

A hard glossy mineral consisting of silicon dioxide in crystal form; present in most rocks (especially sandstone and granite); yellow sand is quartz with iron oxide impurities

Something having the quality of granite (unyielding firmness);