Muscovite

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Muscovite

Muscovite (also known as Common mica
Mica

The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic with a tendency towards pseudo-hexagonal crystals and are similar in chemical composition....
, Isinglass, or Potash
Potash

Potash is the common name given to potassium carbonate and various mined and manufactured salts that contain the element potassium in water-soluble form....
mica) is a phyllosilicate

Silicate minerals

The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, comprising approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth....
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....
of aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
and potassium

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
with formula K

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
Al₂(AlSi

Silicon

Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855....
₃O

Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
₁₀)(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....
,OH

Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the chemical element with atomic number 1. It is represented by the chemical symbol H. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, nonmetallic, tasteless, highly combustion and explosive Diatomic molecule gas with the molecular formula H2....
)₂, or (KF

Potassium fluoride

Potassium fluoride is the chemical compound with the formula KF. After hydrogen fluoride, KF is the primary source of the fluoride ion for applications in manufacturing and in chemistry....
)₂(Al₂O₃

Aluminate

An aluminate is a compound containing aluminium and oxygen with more electropositive elements. Usually aluminate refers to AlO2-....
)₃(SiO₂

Silicate

A silicate is a compound containing an anion in which one or more central silicon atoms are surrounded by electronegative ligands. This definition is broad enough to include species such as hexafluorosilicate , [SiF6]2-, but the silicate species that are encountered most often consist of silicon with oxygen as the ligand...
)₆(H₂O

Hydrate

Hydrate is a term used in inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry to indicate that a substance contains water. The chemical state of the water varies widely between hydrates, some of which were so labeled before their chemical structure was understood....
). It has a highly-perfect basal cleavage yielding remarkably-thin laminæ (sheets) which are often highly elastic. Sheets of muscovite 5 metres by 3 metres have been found in Nellore

Nellore

Nellore is a city located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is the headquarters of the Potti Sri Ramulu Nellore District, formerly Nellore district....
, India.

Muscovite has a Mohs hardness of 2–2.25 parallel to the [001] face, 4 perpendicular to the [001] and a specific gravity

Specific gravity

Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of a given solid or liquid substance to the density of water at a specific temperature and pressure, typically at 4?C and , making it a dimensionless quantity ....
of 2.76–3.

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Encyclopedia

Silicate minerals

The silicate minerals make up the largest and most important class of rock-forming minerals, comprising approximately 90 percent of the crust of the Earth....
mineral

Mineral

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
and potassium

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
with formula K

Potassium

Potassium is a chemical element. It has the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash, hence the name....
Al₂(AlSi

Silicon

Silicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. The atomic mass is 28.0855....
₃O

Oxygen

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....
,OH

Hydrogen

Potassium fluoride

Aluminate

An aluminate is a compound containing aluminium and oxygen with more electropositive elements. Usually aluminate refers to AlO2-....
)₃(SiO₂

Silicate

Hydrate

Nellore

Specific gravity

Brown

Brown, when used as a general term, is a color that is a dark yellow, orange , or red, of low luminance relative to lighter or white colored objects....
, greens

Green

Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520?570-Nanometre....
, yellows

Yellow

Yellow is the color evoked by light that stimulates both the L and M cone cells of the retina about equally, but does not significantly stimulate the S cone cells; that is, light with much red and green but not very much blue....
, or (rarely) violet

Violet (color)

As the name of a color, violet is used in two senses: first, referring to the color of light at the short-wavelength end of the optical spectrum, approximately 380?420 nanometre when indigo is recognized, or more commonly 380?450 nm ....
or red

Red

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625?740 Nanometer....
, and can be transparent or translucent. The green, chromium

Chromium

Chromium is a chemical element which has the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is a steely-gray, Lustre , hard metal that takes a high polish and has a high melting point....
-rich variety is called fuchsite.

Muscovite is the most common mica, found in granites

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of Intrusion , felsic, igneous rock rock . Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as Porphyry ....
, pegmatites

Pegmatite

Pegmatite is a very coarse-grained igneous rock that has a grain size of 20 mm or more; such rocks are referred to as pegmatitic.Most pegmatites are composed of quartz, feldspar and mica; in essence a "granite"....
, gneisses

Gneiss

Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of Rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic rock processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous rock or Sedimentary rock rocks....
, and schists

Schist

The schists form a group of Erins metamorphic rocks, chiefly notable for the preponderance of lamellar minerals such as micas, Chlorite group, talc, hornblende, graphite, and others....
, and as a contact metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock

Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form"....
or as a secondary mineral

Mineral

Topaz

Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula aluminium2siliconoxygen42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces, the basal pinacoid often being present....
, feldspar

Feldspar

Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's Crust .Feldspars crystallize from magma in both intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks, as veins, and are also present in many types of metamorphic rock....
, kyanite

Kyanite

Kyanite, whose name derives from the Greek word kyanos, meaning blue, is a typically blue silicate mineral, commonly found in aluminium-rich metamorphic pegmatites and/or sedimentary rock....
, etc. In pegmatites, it is often found in immense sheets that are commercially valuable. Muscovite is in demand for the manufacture of fireproofing

Fireproofing

Fireproofing, a passive fire protection measure, refers to the act of making materials or building more resistant to fire, or to those materials themselves, or the act of applying such materials....
and insulating materials and to some extent as a lubricant

Lubricant

A lubricant is a substance introduced between two moving surfaces to reduce the friction between them, improving efficiency and reducing wear....
.

The name of muscovite comes from Muscovy-glass, a name formerly used for the mineral because of its use in Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
for windows

Window

File:OldShipWindows.jpgA window is an opening in a wall that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparency or translucent material....
. It is anisotropic and has high birefringence

Birefringence

Birefringence, or double refraction, is the decomposition of a Ray of light into two rays when it passes through certain types of material, such as calcite crystals or boron nitride, depending on the polarization of the light....
. Its crystal system is monoclinic.

Muscovite

See also