BiggusGeekus said:
Also, what is the exact difference between clay and dirt? Finally, how exactly does "alsih2o" mean "clay"? I've been waiting for an opportunity to ask you for about a month.
the basis of any potters clay body is alumina (al) plus silica(si) with water (h2o) nearl always with other additions...but this is the base all plastic clay is built on. this is a drastic oversimplification, but calling water h2o is too
i have no preference for site or color, part of the kick for me is the differences. if you hap upon something purple or green i am thrilled, otherwise all clays please me
all clay could be construed as dirt, but lots of "dirt" is mostly organic matter, where pure clay contains no organic matter. dirt is a very generic term (yes, i know, clay is too
) refering to eroded rock and organics combined. clay is a plastic material containing alumina and silica that harden to a vitrified state at a specific temperature. the temperature varies according the impurites (or additives) in the clay body. clay can range from white to purple to brown, red, orange, yellow, green...but most fired clay is either white or some "earth" tone.
dictionary.com defines clay as:
A fine-grained, firm earthy material that is plastic when wet and hardens when heated, consisting primarily of hydrated silicates of aluminum and widely used in making bricks, tiles, and pottery
and dirt as: Earth or soil
but these definitions can easily overlap.
a true chemist would never use AlSiH2O as clay, but true chemists make lousy pots
