Nitronatrite
| Nitronatrite | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General and classification | |
| other names |
|
| chemical formula | Na [NO 3 ] |
|
Mineral class (and possibly department) |
Carbonates and nitrates (formerly carbonates, nitrates and borates ) |
|
System no. to Strunz and to Dana |
5.NA.05 ( 8th edition : V / A.01) 01/18/01/01 |
| Crystallographic Data | |
| Crystal system | trigonal |
| Crystal class ; symbol | ditrigonal-scalenohedral; 3 m |
| Room group (no.) | R 3 c (No. 167) |
| Lattice parameters | a = 5.07 Å ; c = 16.82 Å |
| Formula units | Z = 6 |
| Frequent crystal faces | (10 1 1), less often (01 1 2) or (0001) |
| Physical Properties | |
| Mohs hardness | 1.5 to 2 |
| Density (g / cm 3 ) | measured: 2.24 to 2.29; calculated: 2.25 |
| Cleavage | perfect after {10 1 1}, imperfect after {01 1 2} and {0001} |
| Break ; Tenacity | shell-like |
| colour | colorless to white, yellowish, brownish |
| Line color | White |
| transparency | transparent |
| shine | Glass gloss |
| Crystal optics | |
| Refractive indices |
n ω = 1.330 to 1.336 n ε = 1.580 to 1.587 |
| Birefringence | δ = 0.250 |
| Optical character | uniaxial negative |
| Other properties | |
| Chemical behavior | water soluble; dissolves at more than 80% humidity |
| Special features | bitter, pungent taste; has a cooling effect |
Nitronatrite (English nitratine ) is a rarely occurring mineral from the mineral class of " carbonates and nitrates ". It crystallizes in the trigonal crystal system with the composition Na [NO 3 ], so from a chemical point of view it is a sodium nitrate . Since the compound is a sodium salt of nitric acid , the mineral is synonymous with sodium nitrate .
Nitronatrite seldom forms transparent and colorless, rhombohedral crystals up to about three millimeters in size and shiny glass surfaces. It is mostly found - mixed with other salts - in the form of fibrous or granular to massive mineral aggregates and stalactites of white, yellowish or brownish color.
Special properties
Niter is readily soluble in water and more than 80% humidity melts it. Its taste is described as bitter, pungent and cooling.
Etymology and history
The mineral was first mentioned, albeit without a specific name or chemical formula, as early as 1823 under the descriptions of the crystal forms of various synthetic salts by Henry James Brooke (1771–1857). Nitronatrite is described here as a rhombohedral prism in the chapter Nitrate of Soda .
In 1845 Wilhelm von Haidinger coined the term nitrate, which is still internationally valid today, for the rhombohedral sodium salt based on its affiliation with the nitrates, and Ernst Friedrich Glocker finally established the name nitronatrite, which is still used in German today, in 1847, which is based on the formula components nitrogen (in Latin nitro genium ) and Natr ium relates.
The type locality is the Región de Tarapacá (Region I) in Chile, which is one of the most important deposits of sodium nitrate, which is why the synonym Chilesalpeter arose.
classification
In the meanwhile outdated, but still in use 8th edition of the mineral classification according to Strunz , nitronatrite belonged to the common mineral class of "carbonates, nitrates and borates" and there to the department of "nitrates [NO 3 ] 1− ", where it together with Gwihabait , Nitrobaryt and nitrocalite the “nitronatrite group” named after him with the system no. V / A.01 formed.
The 9th edition of Strunz's mineral systematics , which has been in effect since 2001 and is used by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA), assigns nitronatrite to the class of "carbonates and nitrates" (the borates now form a separate class) and there also to the department of "Nitrates". However, this is further subdivided according to the possible presence of constitutional water ( hydroxide ions ) or crystal water , so that the mineral can be found according to its composition in the sub-section "Without OH or H 2 O", where it is the only member of the unnamed group 5. NA.05 forms.
The systematics of minerals according to Dana , which is mainly used in the English-speaking world , assigns nitronatrite, like the old Strunzian system, to the common class of “carbonates, nitrates and borates” and there to the “simple nitrates” category. Here he is to be found as the only member of the unnamed group 01/18/01 within the subsection of " Simple nitrates with A xNO 3 · x (H 2 O), x can be zero ".
Education and Locations
Nitronatrite is mainly formed as an evaporation product under arid climatic conditions such as in dried up salt lakes or through groundwater leaching. But it can also arise in deposited bird droppings ( guano ), the organic parts of which are weathered. As Begleitminerale occur among other Epsomite , gypsum , halite , mirabilite , Nitrocalcit and Nitrokalit on.
As a rare mineral formation, nitronatrite has only been found in a few sites or in small numbers, with around 80 sites being known so far (as of 2013). In addition to its type locality Región de Tarapacá , the mineral appeared in Chile in several places in the Región de Antofagasta as well as in the quarry "Rio de la Sal" near Caballo Muerto in the Región de Atacama .
Other locations include the Bahamas island of San Salvador , the Xinjiang autonomous region in China, the Italian municipality of Berceto , near Utsunomiya on the Japanese island of Honshū, in the Cernatal in Romania, on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and in many places in various states of the USA.
Crystal structure
Nitronatrite crystallizes trigonally in the space group R 3 c (space group no. 167) with the lattice parameters a = 5.07 Å and c = 16.82 Å and 6 formula units per unit cell .
use
Chile's nitrate was the most important inorganic nitrogen fertilizer until the Haber-Bosch process succeeded in producing synthetic nitrogenous fertilizers in large quantities at the beginning of the 20th century .
See also
literature
- Henry James Brooke : On the crystalline forms of artificial salts , in: The Annals of Philosophy , Volume 5 (1823), pp. 449-452; 38-43; 117-121; 374 ( PDF 1.5 MB )
- Wilhelm von Haidinger : First class: Akrogenide. IV. Order. Salts. IV. Nitrum Salt. Nitratin , in: Handbook of Determining Mineralogy , Braumüller and Seidel, Vienna 1845, pp. 487–492 ( PDF 324 kB )
- Ernst Friedrich Glocker : Generum et specierum mineralium, secundum ordines naturales digestorum , 1847, p. 292 Nitronatrite (available online at archive.org )
Web links
- Mineral Atlas: Nitronatrite (Wiki)
- Database-of-Raman-spectroscopy - Nitratine
- Web mineral - nitrates
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Hugo Strunz , Ernest H. Nickel: Strunz Mineralogical Tables . 9th edition. E. Schweizerbart'sche Verlagbuchhandlung (Nägele and Obermiller), Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-510-65188-X , p. 324 .
- ^ Helmut Schrätze, Karl-Ludwig Weiner: Mineralogie. A textbook on a systematic basis . de Gruyter, Berlin; New York 1981, ISBN 3-11-006823-0 , pp. 500 .
- ↑ a b c d e Nitratine , in: John W. Anthony, Richard A. Bideaux, Kenneth W. Bladh, Monte C. Nichols (Eds.): Handbook of Mineralogy, Mineralogical Society of America , 2001 ( PDF 62.9 kB )
- ↑ a b c Mindat - Nitratine
- ↑ IMA / CNMNC List of Mineral Names (2012) , PDF 1.5 MB; P. 120
- ↑ Mindat - Number of sites for nitronatrite