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
Face Q intersects A
and C at ratio 2:1

Q has low density, rare face

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. 2-22

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. 2-22

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. 2-22

Face t is the
(112) face

Algorithm for calculation

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

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

-c

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. 2-33

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