Apatite

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Apatite

Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals

Phosphate minerals

Phosphate minerals are those minerals that contain the tetrahedrally coordinated phosphate anion along with the freely substituting arsenate and vanadate ....
, usually referring to hydroxylapatite

Hydroxylapatite

Hydroxylapatite, also called hydroxyapatite, is a mineral. It is a naturally occurring form of calcium apatite with the formula Ca53, but is usually written Ca1062 to denote that the crystal unit cell comprises two entities....
, fluorapatite

Fluorapatite

Fluorapatite, often with the alternate spelling of fluoroapatite, is a mineral with the formula Ca53F . Fluorapatite is a hard crystalline solid....
, and chlorapatite, named for high concentrations of OH

Hydroxyl

Hydroxyl in chemistry stands for a molecule consisting of an oxygen atom and a hydrogen atom connected by a covalent bond. The neutral form is a hydroxyl Radical and the hydroxyl anion is called a hydroxide....
⁻, F

Fluorine

Fluorine is the chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. Fluorine forms a single bond with itself in elemental form, resulting in the diatomic F2 molecule....
⁻, or Cl

Chlorine

Chlorine...
⁻ ion

Ion

An ion is an atom or molecule which has lost or gained one or more electrons, giving it a positive or negative electrical charge. According to the Bohr_model this will be from or in the outer shield 'n'....
s, respectively, in the crystal

Crystal

A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions....
. The formula of the admixture of the three most common endmembers

Endmember (mineralogy)

An endmember in mineralogy is a mineral that is at the extreme end of a mineral series in terms of purity. Minerals often can be described as solid solutions with varying compositions of some chemical elements, rather than as substances with an exact chemical formula....
is written as Ca

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the earth's Crust ....
₅(PO₄

Phosphate

A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a Salt of phosphoric acid. Inorganic phosphates are mining to obtain phosphorus for use in agriculture and industry....
)₃(OH, F, Cl), and the formulae of the individual mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid formed through Geology processes that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties....
s are written as Ca₅(PO₄)₃(OH), Ca₅(PO₄)₃F and Ca₅(PO₄)₃Cl, respectively.

Apatite is one of few minerals that are produced and used by biological micro-environmental systems. Apatite has a Mohs Scale hardness of 5.

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Encyclopedia

Apatite is a group of phosphate minerals

Phosphate minerals

Hydroxylapatite

Fluorapatite

Hydroxyl

Fluorine

Fluorine is the chemical element with the symbol F and atomic number 9. Fluorine forms a single bond with itself in elemental form, resulting in the diatomic F2 molecule....
⁻, or Cl

Chlorine

Chlorine...
⁻ ion

Ion

Crystal

Endmember (mineralogy)

Calcium

Phosphate

Mineral

Tooth enamel

Tooth enamel is the hardest and most highly mineralized substance of the body, and with dentin, cementum, and Pulp is one of the four major tissues which make up the tooth in vertebrates....
. A relatively rare form of apatite in which most of the OH groups are absent and containing many carbonate and acid phosphate substitutions is a large component of bone

Bone

Bones are rigid organ that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red blood cell and white blood cells and store minerals....
material.

Fluorapatite

Fluorapatite

Fluorapatite, often with the alternate spelling of fluoroapatite, is a mineral with the formula Ca53F . Fluorapatite is a hard crystalline solid....
(or fluoroapatite) is more resistant to acid attack than is hydroxyapatite. For this reason, toothpaste typically contain a source of fluoride anions (e.g. sodium fluoride, sodium monofluorophosphate

Sodium monofluorophosphate

Sodium monofluorophosphate is a chemical with the formula Na2FPO3. Its molecular weight is 143.95 g/mol. Typical for a salt, MFP is odorless, colourless, and water-soluble....
). Similarly, fluoridated water allows exchange in the teeth

Tooth

Teeth are small whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to tear, scrape, and chew food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or defense....
of fluoride ions for hydroxyl groups

Hydroxyl

Dental fluorosis

File:MildFluorosis02-24-09.jpgFile:FluorosisFromNIH.jpgDental fluorosis is a health condition caused by a child receiving too much fluoride during tooth development....
and/or skeletal fluorosis

Skeletal fluorosis

Skeletal fluorosis is a bone disease exclusively caused by excessive consumption of fluoride. In advanced cases, skeletal fluorosis causes pain and damage to bones and joints....
.

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, apatite is often used to fertilize tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines....
. It partially starves the plant of nitrogen

Nitrogen

Nitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674?. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere....
, which gives American cigarette

Cigarette

A cigarette is a product consumed through smoking and manufactured out of curing and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other List of additives in cigarettes, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder ....
s a different taste from those of other countries.

Fission tracks

Fission track dating

Fission track dating is a radiometric dating technique based on analyses of the damage trails, or tracks, left by Nuclear fission fragments in certain uranium bearing minerals and glasses....
in apatite are commonly used to determine the thermal history of orogenic (mountain) belts and of sediments in sedimentary basin

Sedimentary basin

The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. As the sediments are buried, they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification....
s. (U-Th)/He dating

Helium dating

Helium dating may refer to the traditional uranium-thorium dating or uranium-thorium/helium dating.A relatively new dating method, tritium-helium dating has been developed for determining rates of oxygen utilization in the ocean....
of apatite is also well-established for use in determining thermal histories and other, less typical applications such as paleo-wildfire dating.

Phosphorite

Phosphorite

A phosphorite or phosphate rock is a non-detrital sedimentary rock which contains high amounts of phosphate bearing minerals. The phosphate content of phosphorite is at least 20% which is a large enrichment over the typical sedimentary rock content of less than 0.2%....
is a phosphate-rich sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock

Sedimentary rock is one of the three main Rock types . Sedimentary rock is formed by deposition and consolidation of mineral and organic material and from precipitation of minerals from solution....
, that contains between 18% and 40% P₂O₅. The apatite in phosphorite is present as cryptocrystalline

Cryptocrystalline

Cryptocrystalline is a rock Texture which is so finely crystalline, being made up of such minute crystals, that its crystalline nature is only vaguely revealed even microscopically in thin section by transmitted polarized light....
masses referred to as collophane.

Uses

Fluoro-Chloro Apatite forms the basis of the, now obsolete, Halophosphor fluorescent tube phosphor system. Dopant elements of Manganese and Antimony, at less than one mole-percent, in place of the Calcium and Phosphorus impart the fluorescence, and adjustment of the Fluorine to Chlorine ratio adjusts the shade of white produced. Now almost entirely replaced by the Tri-Phosphor system. The primary use of apatite is in the manufacture of fertilizer - it is a source of phosphorus. It is occasionally used as a gemstone.

Gemology

Apatite is infrequently used as a gemstone

Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
. Transparent

Transparency (optics)

In optics, transparency is the material property of allowing light to pass through. In mineralogy, another term for this property is diaphaneity....
stones of clean color have been faceted, and chatoyant specimens have been cabochon

Cabochon

A cabochon or cabachon, from the Middle French caboche , is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to facetted. The resulting form is usually a convex top with a flat bottom....
cut. Chatoyant stones are known as cat's-eye apatite, transparent green stones are known as asparagus stone, and blue stones have been called moroxite
Moroxite

Moroxite is a mineral, a crystallized form of apatite. It has a greenish-blue or brown color. It is found in Aren-dal, Norway, and also in Pargas, Finland....
. Crystals of rutile may have grown in the crystal of apatite so when in the right light, the cut stone displays a cat's eye effect. Major sources for gem apatite are Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the List of countries by population country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world....
, Burma, and Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
. Other sources include Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
, Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe that existed from October 1918 until 1992 . On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia....
, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
, India

India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, Madagascar

Madagascar

Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa. The main island, also called Madagascar, is the List of islands by area, and is home to 5% of the world's plant and animal species, of which more than 80% are Endemism to Madagascar....
, Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest....
, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a constitutional monarchy in Northern Europe that occupies the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula....
, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa, also known by Official names of South Africa, is a country located at the southern tip of the continent of Africa....
, Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India....
, and the US.

Use as an ore mineral

Apatite is occasionally found to contain significant amounts of rare earth elements and can be used as an ore for those metals . This is preferable to traditional rare earth ores, as Apatite is non-radioactive and does not pose an environmental hazard in mine tailings. Apatite is an ore mineral at the Hoidas Lake

Hoidas Lake

Hoidas Lake is a remote northern Canada lake which lies approximately 50 kilometers north of Uranium City, Saskatchewan. Named in honor of Irvin Frank Hoidas, a Canadian soldier killed in action during the Second World War, it is the site of Canada's most advanced rare earth element mining project....
rare earth project.

Apatite

Uses

Gemology

Use as an ore mineral

See also

Further reading