A sample of gypsum
Gypsum (Ca[SO4] • 2H2O) is a soft mineral found around the world that is used in a range of industries including the agricultural and construction industries.
Crystal Shape
It belongs to the monoclinic crystal system, meaning that its structure contains three axes that are not equal; and two of these axes are not at right angles to each other.
Gypsum forms in a range of shapes from lens-like (sometimes forming rosettes of lens-like crystals) and tabular shapes to even forming in a prismatic shape. It is also found in a range of masses including granular to fibrous masses.
Twinning (two mirror image crystals that share a common plane) is not uncommon.
Features
Gypsum is a crystalline mineral that is usually gray to white in color, although it can also be yellow, red or brown, and has a silky to vitreous luster. On the Mohs scale, a relative scale that rates hardness (on which diamond rates a 10), gypsum rates a 1.5 to a 2.
Function
Gypsum's most common uses are as an ingredient in cement, plaster of Paris, fertilizers, mortar and molds.
Chemistry
Gypsum is the most common mineral of the sulfate family. It is known as hydrated calcium sulfate. It commonly forms when marine salt deposits evaporate, or when sulfuric acid reacts with carbonate rock (or when sulfuric volcanic gas reacts with calcium-bearing rock).
Sources
Gypsum can be found in New Mexico, Utah, New York, Colorado and Oklahoma, as well as in Austria, France, Poland, Australia, Chile, Iran, Mexico, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sicily.
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