A 

crystal is a regular polyhedral form,

bounded by smooth faces, which is assumed
by a chemical compound, due to the action of
its interatomic forces, when passing, under
suitable conditions, from the state of a liquid
or gas to that of a solid.
• Crystallography is the study of crystal shapes based on
symmetry

• Atoms combine to form geometric shapes on smallest scale--

these in turn combine to form seeable crystal shapes if
mineral forms in a nonrestrictive space (quartz crystal vs
massive quartz)

• Symmetry functions present on a crystal of a mineral allows

the crystal to be categorized or placed into one of 32 classes
comprising the 6 crystal systems
 ELEMENTS OF SYMMETRY

• PLANES OF SYMMETRY
Any two dimensional surface that, when passed through the center of the
crystal, divides it into two symmetrical parts that are MIRROR IMAGES
is a PLANE OF SYMMETRY

A cube has 9 planes of symmetry, 3 of one set and 6 of another.

In the left figure the planes of symmetry are parallel to the faces of the cube form, in
the right figure the planes of symmetry join the opposite cube edges.
• AXES OF SYMMETRY

Any line through the center of the crystal around which the crystal may be
rotated so that after a definite angular revolution the crystal form
appears the same as before is termed an axis of symmetry. Depending
on the amount or degrees of rotation necessary, four types of axes of
symmetry are possible when you are considering crystallography:

When rotation repeats form every 60 degrees, then we have sixfold or

HEXAGONAL SYMMETRY.

When rotation repeats form every 90 degrees, then we have fourfold or

TETRAGONAL SYMMETRY.

When rotation repeats form every 120 degrees, then we have threefold or
TRIGONAL SYMMETRY.

When rotation repeats form every 180 degrees, then we have twofold or
BINARY SYMMETRY.
• CENTER OF SYMMETRY.
Most crystals have a center of
symmetry, even though they may not
possess either planes of symmetry or
axes of symmetry. Triclinic crystals
usually only have a center of
symmetry. If you can pass an
imaginary line from the surface of a
crystal face through the center of the
crystal (the axial cross) and it
intersects a similar point on a face
equidistance from the center, then the
crystal has a center of symmetry.

The crystal face arrangement symmetry of any given crystal is simply an

expression of the internal atomic structure. The relative size of a given face is
of no importance, only the angular relationship or position to other given crystal
faces.
 CRYSTAL FORMS AND SYMMETRY CLASSES

HABIT is the correct term to indicate outward appearance. Habit, when applied
to natural crystals and minerals, includes such descriptive terms as tabular,
equidimensional, massive, reniform, drusy, and encrusting.
A FORM is a group of crystal faces, all having the same relationship to the elements
of symmetry of a given crystal system. These crystal faces display the same physical
and chemical properties because the ATOMIC ARRANGEMENT (internal
geometrical relationships) of the atoms composing them is the same.

Note: Crystals, even of the same mineral, can have differing

CRYSTAL FORMS, depending upon their conditions of growth.

Example: Various Crystal Forms of

Peruvian Pyrite

Pyrite is a common mineral which often

exhibits several forms on a single crystal. One
form is usually dominant, presenting the largest
faces on the crystal. Peruvian pyrite commonly
has cubic, octahedral, and dodecahedral forms
on a single crystal. Crystals with the same
forms present, but with different dominant
forms will each appear very different.
Miller Indices
Universally accepted system of indices has been developed to
describe the orientation of crystallographic planes and crystal faces
relative to crystallographic axes. This convention is called the
system of Miller indices.
Miller Indices are a symbolic vector representation for the
orientation of an atomic plane in a crystal lattice and are defined as
the reciprocals of the fractional intercepts which the plane makes
with the crystallographic axes.
The method by which indices are determined is best shown by
example. Recall, that there are three axes in crystallographic
systems (*except sometimes in the hexagonal system adopts a
convention where there are four axes). Miller indices are
represented by a set of 3 integer numbers.
Example of the (111) plane:
Face of an octahedron using Miller's indices:
An octahedron is an eight-sided crystal form
that is the simple repetition of an equilateral
triangle about our 3 crystallographic axes. The
triangle is oriented so that it crosses the a1 (or
a), a2 (or b), and a3 (or c) axes all at the same
distance from the axial cross. This unit distance
is given as 1. So the Miller indices is (111) for
the face that intercepts the positive end of each
of the 3 axes.
Note: A bar over the number tells me that the
intercept was across the negative end of the
particular crystallographic axis.
Face of a cube using Miller's indices:

A cube face that intercepts the a3

(vertical) axis on the + end will not
intercept the a1 and a2 axes. If the face
does not intercept an axis, then we
assign a mathematical value of infinity
to it. So we start with Infinity, Infinity,
1 (a1, a2, a3). So the Miller indices of
the +a3 intercept face equals (001).
1. First the plane is examined to determine what
fractional unit length along each axis (away from
a common origin), does the plane intersect?
2. Step two involves taking the reciprocal of the
fractional intercept of each unit length for each
axis.
3. Finally the fractions are cleared (i.e., make 1
as the common denominator).
4. These integer numbers are then parenthetically
enclosed and designate that specific
crystallographic plane within the lattice.
Why go through all of these operations?
Example of the (101) plane
 Crystal Forms
• During the process of crystallization, crystals assume various geometric
shapes dependent on the ordering of their atomic structure and the
physical and chemical conditions under which they grow.
• These forms may be subdivided, using geometry, into six systems.

CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC 6 large groups of crystal

AXES systems:

• (1) CUBIC
• (2) TETRAGONAL
• (3) ORTHORHOMBIC
• (4) HEXAGONAL
• (5) MONOCLINIC
• (6) TRICLINIC
 The Six Crystal Systems
Name Unit Cell Dimentions Angles
Isometric(cubic) a=b=c  

Tetragonal a=b°c 

Orthorhombic a°b°c 
Monoclinic a°b°c 
Ticlinic a°b°c 

Hexagonal a 1 =a 2 =a 3 °c a i^a j=120o, a 1 ^c=90o

 CUBIC ( ISOMETRIC) - The three
crystallographic axes are all equal in length and
intersect at right angles (90 degrees) to each other.

Crystal forms in the isometric system have the

highest degree of SYMMETRY, when compared
to all the other crystal systems.
The 3 crystallographic axes are axes of 4-fold rotation.

There are also 4 diagonal axes of 3-fold rotary inversion that pass
through the form at the point where the cube's 3 faces would join.

There are 6 directions of 2-fold symmetry (at the center of the line
formed by the intersection of 2 planes).

There is also a center of symmetry.

There are 9 mirror planes

This combination of symmetry elements defines the highest possible

symmetry of crystals. So the Hermann-Mauguin notation is 4/m-
32/m.
The Hermann-Mauguin notation for the first seven isometric forms and
each form's notation:
 Tetragonal System

Three axes, all at right angles, two of which are

equal in length (a and b) and one (c) which is
different in length (shorter or longer)
 Hexagonal system

Four axes three of the axes fall in the same plane and
intersect at the axial cross at 120 degrees between the
positive ends.
These 3 axes, labeled a1, a2, and a3, are the same length.
The fourth axis, termed c, may be longer or shorter than the
a axes set. The c axis also passes through the intersection of
the a axes set at right angle to the plane formed by the a set.
 Monoclinic system

Three axes, all unequal in length, two of which (a and c) intersect at

an oblique angle (not 90 degrees), the third axis (b) is perpendicular
to the other two axes.
TRICLINIC -
The three axes are all unequal in length and intersect at three
different angles (any angle but 90 degrees)