Minerals structures are described

in terms of the unit cell

Symmetry, Groups and

Crystal Structures
The Seven Crystal Systems

The Unit Cell The Unit Cell

The unit cell of a mineral is the smallest
divisible unit of mineral that possesses the is angle between b and c
symmetry and properties of the mineral.
is angle between a and c
It is a small group of atoms arranged in a
box with parallel sides that is repeated in is angle between a and b
three dimensions to fill space.
It has three principal axes (a, b and c) and
Three interaxial angles (, , and )

Seven Crystal Systems

Seven Crystal Systems
Triclinic a b c; 90 120
The presence of symmetry operators places
Monoclinic a b c; = = 90; 90 120
constraints on the geometry of the unit cell.
Orthorhombic a b c; = = = 90
The different constraints generate the seven
crystal systems. Tetragonal a = b c; = = = 90
Triclinic Monoclinic Trigonal a = b c; = = 90; = 120
Orthorhombic Tetragonal Hexagonal a = b c; = = 90; = 120
Trigonal Hexagonal Cubic a = b = c; = = = 90
Cubic (Isometric)

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 Symmetry Operations Rotations
A symmetry operation is a transposition of an 1-fold 360 I Identity
object that leaves the object invariant. 2-fold 180 2
Rotations 3-fold 120 3
360, 180, 120, 90, 60
4-fold 90 4
Inversions (Roto-Inversions)
360, 180, 120, 90, 60
6-fold 60 6
Translations:
Unit cell axes and fraction thereof.
Combinations of the above.

Roto-Inversions
Translations
(Improper Rotations)
Unit Cell Vectors
1-fold 360
Fractions of unit cell vectors
2-fold 180
(1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6)
3-fold 120
Vector Combinations
4-fold 90
6-fold 60

Groups Groups
A set of elements form a group if the following The elements of our groups are symmetry
properties hold: operators.
Closure: Combining any two elements gives a third The rules limit the number of groups that
element are valid combinations of symmetry
Association: For any three elements (ab)c = a(bc). operators.
Identity: There is an element, I such that Ia = aI = a The order of the group is the number of
Inverses: For each element, a, there is another elements.
element b such that ab = I = ba

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Point Groups (Crystal Classes)
Space Groups
We can do symmetry operations in two
dimensions or three dimensions. Including the translation operations gives
We can include or exclude the translation the space groups.
operations. 17 two-dimensional space groups
230 three dimensional space groups
Combining proper and improper rotation gives
the point groups (Crystal Classes) Each space group belongs to one of the 32
32 possible combinations in 3 dimensions
Crystal Classes (remove translations)
32 Crystal Classes (Point Groups)
Each belongs to one of the (seven) Crystal Systems

Halite Cube
Crystal Morphology
A face is designated by Miller indices in
parentheses, e.g. (100) (111) etc.
A form is a face plus its symmetric equivalents
(in curly brackets) e.g {100}, {111}.
A direction in crystal space is given in square
brackets e.g. [100], [111].

Miller Indices Miller Indices

Plane cuts axes at The cube face is
intercepts (,3,2). (100)
To get Miller indices,
The cube form
invert and clear fractions.
{100} is comprises
(1/, 1/3, 1/2) (x6)=
faces
(0, 2, 3)
(100),(010),(001),
General face is (h,k,l) (-100),(0-10),(00-1)

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 Halite Cube (100)
Stereographic Projections
Used to display
crystal
morphology.
X for upper
hemisphere.
O for lower.

Stereographic Projections

We will use stereographic projections to plot the

perpendicular to a general face and its symmetry
equivalents (general form hkl).
Illustrated above are the stereographic projections
for Triclinic point groups 1 and -1.