Each grain of salt in a saltshaker is a perfect cube when viewed up close. Grind one grain into a fine powder and you have shattered it into millions of tiny, perfect cubes. The inescapable cube shape of salt persists because the very atoms that comprise pure salt are bonded together in the shape of a square scaffold that outlines an endless number of cubes. Any break to this structure will occur along the planes of weakness that define these bonds, resulting in more cubes, all repeating the same atomic pattern right down to their smallest components.
