B Understanding Crystal Structures: Energy Considerations

Adeonaja
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We know most of our solids have crystal forms i.e. atoms arrange themselves in a regular beautiful way. But how can atoms know beforehand to arrange themselves in such ordered manner?
This questions is hovering on my mind from a long time. Why would something which does not have life would want to be in such a beautiful neighborhood, while the world is so much disordered. What causes them to be in that regular array and how they choose which crystal structure is suitable for them?
For now suppose for somehow any reason they want to be in that crystal form but then comes grains i.e. after a so short period of space their periodicity is broken! What decides all this?
From a simple Google search I came know something about energy consideration i.e. system energy is minimized in this form. But this answer seems very blurry would be great if someone emphasizes on this.
 
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