![history](../../images/but_history.gif)
![collection](../../images/but_database.gif)
![collecting and identifying](../../images/but_collect.gif)
![how minerals are formed](../../images/but_how.gif)
![marvels of minerals](../../images/but_marvels.gif)
![virtual walk of a quarry](../../images/but_walk.gif)
BACK
HOME
|
![](../../nav_graphics/bar_database.gif) |
![](../../nav_graphics/title_db.gif)
Crystal system |
hexagonal. |
Habit |
tabular, granular, stalactitic or prismatic; rhombohedral or scalenohedral in geometric form. |
Cleavage |
perfect. |
Fracture |
rarely present but is conchoidal (long curved surface pattern often seen when glass breaks). |
Hardness |
3 |
Specific Gravity |
2.7 |
Color |
can be colorless, opaque, white, gray, yellow, green, purple, blue/brown or black. |
Luster |
transparent to translucent with a vitreous or pearly luster |
Streak |
white. |
Distinguishing features |
dissolves easily in cold, hydrochloric acid. |
Uses |
used in petrological microscopes as a polarizing prism; also used in cements for buildings, as a flux in metallurgy, in soil enrichment and as fillers in rubber and paint.
|
|
![](../images/browse_by.gif)
Crystal
Chemical
Gravity
Color
Species
Catalog
Other species samples
|