Mineralogy, GEO-220

This course looks at the diverse solid materials that make up most of our planet, many of our industrial resources and materials, and most of our precious gems. We will examine the nature of external and internal symmetry of crystals, chemical bonding and substitution in crystal lattices, physical properties, and crystal optics. Emphasis will be on the identification of minerals by physical, chemical, optical, and X-ray diffraction techniques.

ResourcesSyllabus (pdf)
Publisher’s web page for your text
Study Guide (pdf)
Web Resources
Mineral Properties
Useful little mineral spreadsheet programs for homework etc.
Why Mineralogy is fun (for me)
X-ray diffractionX-ray diffraction cell refinement templates
X-ray diffraction d-2Θ conversion
X-ray diffraction clay data
Old Philips XRD
New Rigaku XRD
MicroscopesMicroscope parts
Centering the optics
Oil immersion data sheet
Scanning electron microscope
Crystal modelsEdenite
Staurolite

SVG vector graphics files for figures I use in this course (native Inkscape)