翡翠和玉石有什么区别.？
谢邀，这个问题是老生常谈了，不过我还是希望可以给大家普及一下相关知识。在回答这个问题的过程中，我尽量用通俗易懂的语言进行表达，同时会添加一些图片来帮助理解。 首先我们先来了解一下什么是玉、什么是翡翠。
一、什么是玉呢？ 在我国古代“玉”字是指一切质地细腻而颜色美丽稀少的人类贵重矿物的总称，它包括软玉（和田玉）、硬玉(翡翠)及其它很多玉种。其中以新疆的和田地区出产的玉质量最好，有“中国之玉都产美玉”的说法。但古往今来人们对玉的爱恋却不限于地域，也不拘泥于种类。人们不仅把玉看成是吉祥之物，认为佩带或使用它可以避邪保平安；而且还把它视为高贵典雅的象征。因此历代帝王及贵族都以拥有美玉为荣。至于平民百姓则将玉看作是一种具有驱魔辟邪作用的宝物，甚至有人还将它作为传家之宝世代相传下去。那么究竟什么才是真正的宝玉呢？ 据《说文解字》记载：“石之美者谓之玉”可见当时玉的概念包含了自然界所有的美石，也就是现在所说的矿物晶体了！
二、什么是翡翠呢？ 19世纪中叶后，西方传教士从缅甸进贡给清朝皇帝的贡品中发现了翡翠，因其色如翠故得此名。目前国际上已公认翡翠为玉中极品。在我国民间也有许多关于翡翠的传说故事流传至今并广为传播着．而且它还成为了现代人们生活中不可缺少的一部分。所以说对于中国人来说翡翠就是一种象征着财富与地位的象征。但是为什么会有这么多的人喜欢佩戴翡翠饰品或者珍藏翡翠呢？其实这是由多种因素决定的。下面我们就一起来探讨一下吧！
1836年《英国大不列颠百科全书》记载：Jade，a precious stone composed principally of the mineral jadeite with a small percentage of mica in it; its color is generally green， sometimes blue or black but more commonly mixed colors such as white and yellow; it may be cut into very handsome jewels. The Chinese value this substance highly because of both its beauty and durability properties. Jade also can be made into bowls and other household items by polishing them on stone wheels and then cutting them to shape using chisels. In China they call their country "the land of jade" which reflects not only its great wealth derived from mining these gems，butalso how much importance is placed upon them by native people living there over many years since earliest times (The English word 'jewel' comes from Latin gaudia meaning joys). It should also be noted that many varieties of hard stones are called jades including agate，onyxes etc and even certain types of coal could qualify too！ So where does our use of term "jade""stone" originate from？ Well after thousands year's of study by geologists， archaeologist and others we have identified two major rock groups containing jadeites： one occurs in North America and Siberia while another forms around Asia Minor and Australia; both regions having produced enough material for all kinds of artifacts during prehistoric times when humans first discovered ways to mine for this valuable resource.
三、简单总结一下两者的区别就是：一般意义上的玉指的是除翡翠之外的一切玉石的总称。而翡翠只是其中一类，它是属于玉的一个亚种——硬玉的