Anhydrite
Anhydrite
Anhydrite (pronounced /ˈænhaɪdraɪt/) is a mineral—anhydrous calcium sulfate, CaSO4. It is in the orthorhombic crystal system, with three directions of perfect cleavage parallel to the three planes of symmetry. It is not isomorphous with the orthorhombic barium and strontium sulfates, as might be expected from the chemical formulas.
Etymology
The name Anhydrite was given by A.G. Werner in 1804, because of the absence of water of crystallization, as contrasted with the common sulfate mineral Gypsum, which contains two water molecules per formula unit. The term is derived from the Greek word "anhydrous" which means "without water".
Related Terms
- Gypsum: A soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO4·2H2O. It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard/sidewalk chalk, and drywall.
- Orthorhombic crystal system: In crystallography, the orthorhombic crystal system is one of the 7 crystal systems. Orthorhombic lattices result from stretching a cubic lattice along two of its orthogonal pairs by two different factors, resulting in a rectangular prism with a rectangular base and height.
- Sulfate minerals: Sulfate minerals are delicate and occur near the Earth's surface in sedimentary rocks such as limestone, gypsum rock, and rock salt. Sulfates tend to live near oxygen and water. There is a whole community of bacteria that make their living by reducing sulfate to sulfide where oxygen is absent.
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Anhydrite
- Wikipedia's article - Anhydrite
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