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Pure fluorite is colourless and transparent, both in visible and ultraviolet light, but impurities usually make it a colorful mineral and the stone has ornamental and lapidary uses. Industrially, fluorite is used as a flux for smelting, and in the production of certain glasses and enamels.
The fluorite structure refers to a common motif for compounds with the formula MX 2. [1] [2] The X ions occupy the eight tetrahedral interstitial sites whereas M ions occupy the regular sites of a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure. Many compounds, notably the common mineral fluorite (CaF 2), adopt this structure.
This is a list of minerals which have Wikipedia articles.. Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish the various species.
Antozonite with calcite from the Margnac Mine, Compreignac, Haute-Vienne, Limousin, France - (6x5.5cm) Fluorite (antozonite) from Wölsendorf, Oberpfalz, Southern Germany Antozonite (historically known as Stinkspat , Stinkfluss , Stinkstein , Stinkspar [ 1 ] and fetid fluorite [ 2 ] ) is a radioactive fluorite variety first found in Wölsendorf ...
[1]: 53 Pliny describes the mineral as having a "great variety of colours" with "shades of purple and white with a mixture of the two". [1]: 53 Whether this mineral was banded fluorite is uncertain, but it was apparently soft enough (like fluorite) to allow one particular man of consular rank to gnaw at the edges of his cup.
The main uses of fluoride, in terms of volume, are in the production of cryolite, Na 3 AlF 6. It is used in aluminium smelting. Formerly, it was mined, but now it is derived from hydrogen fluoride. Fluorite is used on a large scale to separate slag in steel-making. Mined fluorite (CaF 2) is a commodity chemical used in steel-making.
Fluorite of the acidspar grade is used directly as an additive to ceramics and enamels, glass fibers and clouded glass, and cement, as well as in the outer coating of welding rods. [5] Acidspar is primarily used for making hydrofluoric acid, which is a chemical intermediate for most fluorine-containing compounds.
Substantial energy is still needed for both heating the materials and the electrolysis, but it is much more energy-efficient than melting the oxides themselves. As natural cryolite is now too rare to be used for this purpose, synthetic sodium aluminium fluoride is produced from the common mineral fluorite. [citation needed]