Course Lecture
On
Module 1C: Mineralogy
Course: Engineering Geology (101403)
(4th Semester)
Branch: Civil Engineering
Course Instructor: Shipra Sinha
Department of Civil Engineering
Government Engineering College Arwal
Arwal, Bihar - 804409
Crystallography
Crystal is defined as a polyhedral form of a substance bounded by smooth geometrical surfaces called faces.
- Crystals may be natural or synthetic.
- The process of formation of crystals is called crystallisation.
- Natural crystals are formed in the earth from natural fluids by their cooling under different conditions of
temperature and pressure.
- Synthetic crystals are obtained by cooling saturated solutions under controlled conditions of temperature and
pressure.
- Crystals have a variety of shapes, including cubes, octahedrons, prisms, and needles.
- Some examples of crystals include: Diamond (crystallized carbon), Table Salt (NaCl, halite crystals), Snowflakes
(ice crystals), Amethyst (purple quartz crystal), Sugar crystals, Silicon crystals.
Crystallography is the branch of science that deals with all the aspects of crystals, i. e., their formation from the
melts, their internal structure and their external shape.
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Minerals vs Crystals
Minerals and crystals are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they have slightly different meanings
Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a definite chemical composition and crystalline structure.
Crystals are solids with a regular, repeating arrangement of atoms, molecules, or ions.
All minerals are crystals, but not all crystals are minerals.
For example, synthetic crystals such as silicon crystals are not minerals, and organic crystals such as sugar crystals
are also not minerals.
Natural Tanzanite Man-made Bismuth
crystal crystal
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Elements of a Crystal
Crystal Face
External regular or modified geometrical surfaces on a crystal.
A crystal may have only 2 faces of the same geometrical shape or upto 48
faces of a combination of geometrical shapes.
Interfacial Angle
The angle at which any two adjacent faces are placed on the crystal with
respect to each other.
It is measured by an instrument known as goniometer.
Law of constancy of interfacial angles:
“The angles between the corresponding faces of a crystal of a given
substance, measured at the same temperature, have a constant value,
irrespective of size, shape and number of these faces.”
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Symmetry
Law of crystal symmetry
All crystals of the same substance possess the same elements of symmetry.
Various types of symmetry in a crystal is known as elements of symmetry.
There are three possible types of symmetry.
Centre of symmetry
Plane of symmetry
Axis of symmetry
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Symmetry
Centre of symmetry
A crystal is said to have a centre of symmetry when like faces and
edges are arranged in corresponding positions on opposite sides of a
central point.
If through this central point a line is drawn, the points of similar
character are equidistantly present on the both sides of this point.
Plane of Symmetry
The plane which divides the crystal into two similar halves or
similarly placed halves such that one half is the mirror image of
another half.
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Symmetry (contd.)
9 planes of symmetry of a cube
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Symmetry (contd.)
Axis of symmetry
A line about which the crystal may be rotated such that it presents the same appearance more than once during the
complete revolution through 360°.
If a crystal presents the same appearance 'n' times in one complete revolution, the axis is said to be 'n' fold symmetry.
Example: The cubic crystal of NaCl has 13 axes of symmetry.
Types of symmetry Also called Angle of rotation needed to bring the Number of appearances a reference
reference face occupy the same position face makes in a complete rotation
Two-fold symmetry Axis of binary 180º 2
Three-fold symmetry Axis of trigonal 120º 3
Four-fold symmetry Axis of tetragonal 90º 4
Six-fold symmetry Axis of hexagonal 60º 6
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Symmetry (contd.)
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Symmetry (contd.)
Symmetry of Cube (Order 4): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3eOGQGntEs
Symmetry of Cube (Order 3): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TggbcOrALMQ
Symmetry of Cube (Order 2): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PYDcHKPMKk
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Crystallographic Axes
Crystallographic Axes
These are imaginary lines arbitrarily selected in such a way that all of them pass through centre of an ideal crystal.
Notation Axial ratio (a : c)
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Crystal System
Source: https://opengeology.org/Mineralogy/11-crystallography/ 12
SEM
Scanning Electron Microscopy
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) is a type of electron
microscope that produces images of a sample by scanning the
surface with a focused beam of electrons. The electrons interact
with atoms in the sample, producing various signals that
contain information about the surface topography and
composition.
By using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the size of
minerals can be measured, morphology and relations between
phases like coating or erosion of crystals can be observed.
Using energy dispersive systems (EDS), the chemical
composition of minerals can be obtained. Scanning Electron Microscope (JEOL Ltd.)
Note: Morphology refers to the study of the shape, structure,
and form of materials at the microscopic level.
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XRD
XRD stands for X-Ray Diffraction.
XRD is a high-precision non-destructive technique that provides
important information about the structural characteristics of the
materials by enabling chemical composition identification.
It provides various information on the crystal structure, phase,
crystal orientation, etc. of the materials.
It works on the principle of diffraction of the X-ray and its
effectiveness depends on the penetration depth of the X-ray
beam.
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