Halite
| Halite | |
|---|---|
Halite from the Wieliczka salt mine, Małopolskie, Poland | |
| General | |
| Category | Halide mineral |
| Formula | NaCl |
| IMA symbol | Hl[1] |
| Strunz classification | 3.AA.20 |
| Crystal system | Cubic[2] |
| Crystal class | Hexoctahedral (m3m) H-M symbol: (4/m 3 2/m) |
| Space group | Fm3m |
| Unit cell | a = 5.6404(1) Å; Z = 4 |
| Identification | |
| Formula mass | 58.433 g/mol |
| Color | Colorless or white when pure. Impurities produce any color but usually yellow, gray, black, brown, red (Depends on isotopes and purity for various colours)[2] |
| Crystal habit | Predominantly cubes and in massive sedimentary beds, but also granular, fibrous and compact |
| Cleavage | Perfect {001}, three directions cubic |
| Fracture | Conchoidal |
| Tenacity | Brittle |
| Mohs scale hardness | 2.0–2.5 |
| Luster | Vitreous |
| Streak | White |
| Diaphaneity | Transparent to Translucent |
| Specific gravity | 2.17 |
| Optical properties | Isotropic |
| Refractive index | n = 1.544 |
| Melting point | 800.7 °C |
| Solubility | Water-soluble |
| Other characteristics | Salty flavor, may be fluorescent |
| References | [3][4][5][6] |
Halite (/ˈhælaɪt, ˈheɪlaɪt/ HAL-yte, HAY-lyte),[7][8][9] commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride (NaCl). Halite forms isometric crystals.[10] The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pink, red, orange, yellow or gray depending on inclusion of other materials, impurities, and structural or isotopic abnormalities in the crystals.[11] It commonly occurs with other evaporite deposit minerals such as several of the sulfates, halides, and borates. The name halite is derived from the Ancient Greek word for "salt", ἅλς (háls).[3]
- ^ Warr, L.N. (2021). "IMA–CNMNC approved mineral symbols". Mineralogical Magazine. 85 (3): 291–320. Bibcode:2021MinM...85..291W. doi:10.1180/mgm.2021.43. S2CID 235729616.
- ^ a b Geology.com: Halite
- ^ a b "Halite" (PDF). Handbook of Mineralogy. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 28, 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
- ^ "Halite". Mindat.org. Archived from the original on 2011-08-05.
- ^ "Halite". Webmineral. Archived from the original on 2004-11-24.
- ^ Haynes, William M., ed. (2011). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (92nd ed.). CRC Press. ISBN 978-1439855119.
- ^ "halite". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.
- ^ "halite". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
- ^ "Halite". Random House Unabridged Dictionary. 1997. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02.
- ^ Bonewitz, Ronald Louis (2012). Rocks and Minerals. DK Publishing. p. 110. ISBN 978-0-7566-9042-7.
- ^ Sonnenfeld, Peter (January 1995). "The color of rock salt—A review". Sedimentary Geology. 94 (3–4): 267–276. Bibcode:1995SedG...94..267S. doi:10.1016/0037-0738(94)00093-A.