Compare and contrast gem-quality amethyst with regular quartz-- can you help me out plz?

Question

Compare and contrast gem-quality amethyst with regular quartz-- plz help me i am soo confused

Answer 1

Much of this depends upon what you mean by regular quartz.  If you mean clear optically pure quartz (the material that ancient crystal balls were made from). the quartz is pure or nearly pure Silicon dioxide (SiO2).

Quartz crystals, however often have impurities (including flaws in the crystal structure and even air bubbles) which tend to make the crystal colored or smoky when viewed.

Amethyst is quartz which has an Iron impurity (and sometimes a Manganese or Aluminum compound depending upon source).  Gem quality Amethysts usually have a very deep purple color and are often synthetic and not natural materials.