tridymite

English

Tridymite

Etymology

The name refers to the peculiar habit of crystallizing in groups of three individuals.

Noun

tridymite (countable and uncountable, plural tridymites)

  1. (mineralogy) A rare mineral of volcanic rocks that solidified at a high temperature, with the chemical composition silicon dioxide, SiO2. Tridymite is chemically identical to quartz, but has a different crystal structure. Sometimes contains sodium aluminum silicate, which seems to be expelled when quartz solidifies at lower temperatures.
See silicate, silica group

Translations

Further reading

  • Tridymite” in David Barthelmy, Webmineral Mineralogy Database, 1997–.
  • tridymite”, in Mindat.org, Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, accessed 29 August 2016.
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