Opal Glossary
Glossary
- Amorphous
- Shapeless. Not consisting of crystals. Non crystalline. Glass is amorphous. Sugar is crystalline.
- Deflection
- The bending of rays of light from a straight line.
- Diffraction
- The Breaking up of a ray of light into either a series of light and dark bands, or into coloured bands of the spectrum.
- Diffuse
- To spread out so as to cover a larger space or surface. To scatter.
- Fluorescent
- A light produced by the electrical stimulation of a gas or vapour. Fluorescent lights have a similar effect on opal as a bright cloudy day--they do not properly bring out the colours in opal
- Hydrate
- A compound produced when certain substances chemically combine with water.
- Incandescent
- Glowing with heat (red or white hot) as in a light bulb which glows white hot, but produces a light that more closely simulates natural sunlight. Sunlight and incandescent lights bring out the natural colours in opal.
- Opal
- Opal comes from the Latin word opalus which means to see a change in colour. Chemically, opal is hydrated silica, similar to quartz.
- Opalescence
- A play of colour, similar to that of an opal.
- Opaque
- Not allowing light to pass through. The opposite of transparent.
- Play of Colour
- The way in which colours change as an opal is tilted in different directions.
- Silica
- (Silicon Dioxide) A hard, white or colourless substance, that in the form of quartz, enters into the composition of many rocks and is contained in sponges and certain plants. The needle in the mouth of a female mosquito is made of silica. Flint, sand, chalcedony, and opal are examples of silica in different forms.
- Spectrum
- The band of colours formed when a beam of white light passes through a prism or by some other means (e.g. mist or spray, in the case of a rainbow) The full range of spectrum colours are: red, orange, yellow, green blue, indigo, and violet.
- Sphere
- A round three dimensional geometric shape whose surface is equally distant at all points from the centre point.
- Translucent
- Letting light through without being transparent.
- Transparent
- Easily seen through.(glass like)
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