P.

306 olivine information

Chemistry

Crystallography
Physical Properties

Optical Properties

Crystal Faces

Common crystal faces relate simply

to surfaces of unit cell
Often parallel to the faces of the unit
cell

Isometric minerals often are cubes

Hexagonal minerals often are hexagons

Other faces are often simple

diagonals at uniform angles to the
unit cell faces

These relationships were discovered

in 18th century and codified into laws:

Stenos law
Law of Bravais
Law of Huay

Stenos Law

Angle between equivalent faces on a

crystal of some minerals are always
the same
Can understand why

Faces relate to unit cell, crystallographic

axes, and angular relationships between
faces and axes
Strictly controlled by symmetry of the
crystal system and class of that mineral

Law of Bravais

Common crystal faces are parallel to

lattice planes that have high lattice
node densities

All faces parallel

unit cell high
density of lattice
nodes

Monoclinic crystal
T has
intermediate
density of lattice
nodes fairly
common and
pronounced face
on mineral
Faces A, B, and C
intersect only one
axis principal
faces

Face T intersects
two axes a and c,
but at same unit
lengths

Q has low density, rare face

Face Q intersects
A and C at ratio
2:1
Fig. 2-21

Law of Hay

Crystal faces intersect axes at simple

integers of unit cell distances on the
crystallographic axes

Lengths can be absolute or relative:

Absolute distance - lengths have units

(typically ) and are not integers
Unit cell distances - typically small
integers, e.g., 1 to 3, occasionally higher
1 unit length is the absolute length of
crystallographic axis

Allows a naming system to describe

planes in the mineral (faces,
cleavage, atomic planes etc.)
Miller Indices

Miller Indices

Shorthand notation for where the

faces intercept the crystallographic
axes
Miller Index

Set of three integers (hkl)

Inversely proportional to where face or
crystallographic plane (e.g. cleavage)
intercepts axes

General form is (hkl) where

h represents the a intercept

k represents the b intercept
l represents the c intercept

h, k, and l are ALWAYS integers

Consider face t:

Fig. 222

Imagine you
extend face t
until it
intercepts
crystallographic
axes
Unit cell:
each side is
one unit
length

How many unit lengths out along the crystallographic axes?

For face t:
Axial
intercepts
in terms of
unit cell
lengths:
a = 12
b = 12
c=6

Fig. 222

Face t, without
the rest of the
form

Imagine the face is fit

within the unit cell so that
the maximum intercept is
1 unit length;
The intercepts for a:b:c
would be 1:1:1/2
Miller indices are the
inverse of the intercepts
Inverting give (112) note
that the higher the number
the closer to the origin

Fig. 222

Face t is
the (112)
face

What about faces that parallel axes?

With algorithm, miller index would

be:

For example, intercepts a:b:c could be

1:1:

(hkl) = (1/1 1/1 1/) = (110)

If necessary you need to clear

fractions

E.g. intercepts for a:b:c = 1:2:

Invert: 1/1 1/2 1/
Clear fractions: 2(1 0) = (210)

Some intercepts can be negative

they intercept negative axes
E.g. a:b:c = 1:-1:
Here (hkl) = 1/1:1/-1:1/ = (112)

-b
b
a
-c

It is very
easy to
visualize the
location of a
simple face
given miller
index, or to
derive a
miller index
from simple
faces

Fig. 2-23

Hexagonal Miller index

There need to be 4 intercepts (hkil)

Two a axes have to have opposite

sign of other axis so that

h = a1
k = a2
i = a3
l=c

h+k+i=0

Possible to report the index two

ways:

(hkil)
(hkl)

(1010)
(100)

(1120)
(110)

(1121)
(111)

Klein and
Hurlbut Fig. 233

Assigning Miller indices

Prominent (and common) faces have

small integers for Miller Indices
Faces that cut only one axis

Faces that cut two axes

(100), (010), (001) etc

(110), (101), (011) etc

Faces that cut three axes

(111)
Called unit face