Secondary names

Asbestos

	Formula	Name	Family	Number min-max	Isotope mole fraction	State	Relevance
	$Mg$	Magnesium	element	3		constituent element	main
	$Si$	Silicon	element	2		constituent element	main
	$O$	Oxygen	element	9		constituent element	main
	$H$	Hydrogen	element	4		constituent element	main

Composition comments

Common impurities: Al, $Fe_{3+}$, $Fe_{2+}$, $Cr_{3+}$, Mn, Ni, Ti, Ca

Chemical functions

	Function	Number
	$(OH)^-$	4

Chemical bonds

	Bond	Number
	$O^--H$	1

Oxides

Formula	$MgO$	$SiO_{2}$	$H_{2}O$
Mass fraction (%)	43.63	43.37	13.0

Strunz

Class

silicates (09)

Division

phyllosilicate (09.E)

Family

with kaolinite layers composed of tetrahedral and octahedral nets (09.ED)

Code

09.ED.15

Dana

Major class

silicates (VIII)

Class

phyllosilicate sheets of six-membered rings (71)

Type

with 1:1 layers (71.01)

Group

Serpentine group (Chrysotile subgroup) (71.01.02d)

Code

71.01.02d.02

Phase type

crystalline

Crystal system

orthorhombic

Crystal class

unknown

Crystal class symbol

unknown

Crystal spacegroup

unknown

Refringence type

biaxial

Refringence sign

negative

Birefringence

0.002 - 0.008

Refraction index $n_{\alpha}$

1.545 - 1.569

Refraction index $n_{\beta}$

1.546 - 1.569

Refraction index $n_{\gamma}$

1.553 - 1.571

Dispersion V

relatively weak

Pure color

colorless

Color

colorless, yellow, green, gray, gray brown, brownish

Diaphaneity

translucent to opaque

Luster

silky

Links

• Wikipedia
• Webmineral database
• Mindat
• Handbook of Mineralogy (Min. Soc. Am)