- Home
- Rocks
- Type fossils
- Fossil Specimens
- Minerals
- Glossary
- Stratigraphic Chart
- Michel-Levy Chart
- Classification of igneous rocks
- University of Cambridge
- Department of Earth Sciences
- ESC Library
- Moodle
- Sedgwick Museum
- DoITPoMS
- Mindat.org
- Microfossils
- Bryozoans
- Webmineral
- Tree of Life
- CrystalMaker
- Virtual Microscope
Apatite
Title
Apatite
Description
Formula
Ca5(PO4)3(OH,F,Cl)
Structure
Non-silicate
Crystal System
Crystal system: hexagonal (-)
Physical Properties
Colour in hand specimen: green, white, yellow, blue brown etc.
Hardness: 5
Optical Properties
Colour in plane polarised light: generally colourless
Pleochroism: weak to moderate in coloured varieties
Relief: moderate
Birefrinence: 0.001-0.007; first order greys
Extinction: straight
Form: commonly hexagonal in cross-section
Rock Specimens
Mineral Name
apatite
Citation
“Apatite,” 1A Collections, accessed April 9, 2024, https://wserv3.esc.cam.ac.uk/p1acollections/items/show/66.