Introduction & Symmetry Operations

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EENS 2110
Tulane University

Mineralogy
Prof. Stephen A. Nelson

Introduction and Symmetry Operations

This page last updated on 27-Aug-2013

Mineralogy
Definition of a Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring homogeneous solid with a definite (but not generally
fixed) chemical composition and a highly ordered atomic arrangement, usually formed by
an inorganic process.
z

Naturally Occurring - Means it forms by itself in nature. Human made minerals are
referred to as synthetic minerals.
Homogeneous - means that it is a compound that contains the same chemical
composition throughout, and cannot by physically separated into more than 1 chemical
compound.
Solid - means that it not a gas, liquid, or plasma.
Definite chemical composition - means that the chemical composition can be expressed
by a chemical formula. Examples:
{

Quartz has the chemical formula SiO2. Whenever we find quartz it consists of Si
and O in a ratio of 1 Si to 2 O atoms.
Olivine is an example of a mineral that does not have a fixed chemical
composition. In nature we find that Mg and Fe atoms have the same size and
charge and therefore can easily substitute for one another in a mineral. Thus,
olivine can have the chemical formula Mg2SiO4 or Fe2SiO4 or anything in
between. This is usually expressed with a formula indicating the possible
substitution - (Mg,Fe)2SiO4.

Highly ordered atomic arrangement - means that the atoms in a mineral are arranged
in an ordered geometric pattern. This ordered arrangement of atoms is called a crystal
structure, and thus all minerals are crystals. For each mineral has a crystal structure that
will always be found for that mineral, i.e. every crystal of quartz will have the same
ordered internal arrangement of atoms. If the crystal structure is different, then we give
the mineral a different name. A solid compound that meets the other criteria, but has not
definite crystal structure is a said to be amorphous.
One of the consequences of this ordered internal arrangement of atoms is that all crystals
of the same mineral look similar. This was discovered by Nicolas Steno in 1669 and is
expressed as Steno's Law of constancy of interfacial angles - angles between
corresponding crystal faces of the same mineral have the same angle. This is true even if
the crystals are distorted as illustrated by the cross-sections through 3 quartz crystals

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shown below.

Another consequence is that since the ordered arrangement of atoms shows

symmetry, perfectly formed crystals also show a symmetrical arrangement of
crystal faces, since the location of the faces is controlled by the arrangement of
atoms in the crystal structure.
z

Usually formed by an inorganic process - The traditional definition of a mineral

excluded those compounds formed by organic processes, but this eliminates a large
number of minerals that are formed by living organisms, in particular many of the
carbonate and phosphate minerals that make up the shells and bones of living organisms.
Thus, a better definition appends "usually" to the formed by inorganic processes. The
best definition, however, should probably make no restrictions on how the mineral
forms.
Symmetry

Crystals, and therefore minerals, have an ordered internal arrangement of atoms. This ordered
arrangement shows symmetry, i.e. the atoms are arranged in a symmetrical fashion on a three
dimensional network referred to as a lattice. When a crystal forms in an environment where
there are no impediments to its growth, crystal faces form as smooth planar boundaries that
make up the surface of the crystal. These crystal faces reflect the ordered internal arrangement
of atoms and thus reflect the symmetry of the crystal lattice. To see this, let's first imagine a
small 2 dimensional crystal composed of atoms in an ordered internal arrangement as shown
below. Although all of the atoms in this lattice are the same, I have colored one of them gray
so we can keep track of its position.

If we rotate the simple crystals by 90o notice that the lattice and crystal look exactly the same
as what we started with. Rotate it another 90o and again its the same. Another 90o rotation
again results in an identical crystal, and another 90o rotation returns the crystal to its original
orientation. Thus, in 1 360o rotation, the crystal has repeated itself, or looks identical 4 times.
We thus say that this object has 4-fold rotational symmetry.
Symmetry Operations and Elements
A Symmetry operation is an operation that can be performed either physically or imaginatively
that results in no change in the appearance of an object. Again it is emphasized that in crystals,
the symmetry is internal, that is it is an ordered geometrical arrangement of atoms and
molecules on the crystal lattice. But, since the internal symmetry is reflected in the external
form of perfect crystals, we are going to concentrate on external symmetry, because this is what

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we can observe.
There are 3 types of symmetry operations: rotation, reflection, and inversion. We will look at
each of these in turn.
Rotational Symmetry
As illustrated above, if an object can be rotated about an axis and repeats itself every 90o of
rotation then it is said to have an axis of 4-fold rotational symmetry. The axis along which the
rotation is performed is an element of symmetry referred to as a rotation axis. The following
types of rotational symmetry axes are possible in crystals.
z

1-Fold Rotation Axis - An object that requires rotation

of a full 360o in order to restore it to its original
appearance has no rotational symmetry. Since it repeats
itself 1 time every 360o it is said to have a 1-fold axis of
rotational symmetry.
2-fold Rotation Axis - If an object appears
identical after a rotation of 180o, that is twice
in a 360o rotation, then it is said to have a 2fold rotation axis (360/180 = 2). Note that in
these examples the axes we are referring to
are imaginary lines that extend toward you
perpendicular to the page or blackboard. A
filled oval shape represents the point where
the 2-fold rotation axis intersects the page.
This symbolism will be used for a 2-fold rotation axis throughout the lectures and in your
text.
3-Fold Rotation Axis- Objects that repeat themselves
upon rotation of 120o are said to have a 3-fold axis of
rotational symmetry (360/120 =3), and they will
repeat 3 times in a 360o rotation. A filled triangle is
used to symbolize the location of 3-fold rotation axis.

4-Fold Rotation Axis - If an object repeats itself

after 90o of rotation, it will repeat 4 times in a 360o
rotation, as illustrated previously. A filled square is
used to symbolize the location of 4-fold axis of
rotational symmetry.
6-Fold Rotation Axis - If rotation of 60o about
an axis causes the object to repeat itself, then it
has 6-fold axis of rotational symmetry
(360/60=6). A filled hexagon is used as the
symbol for a 6-fold rotation axis.

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Although objects themselves may appear to have 5-fold, 7-fold, 8-fold, or higher-fold rotation
axes, these are not possible in crystals. The reason is that the external shape of a crystal is
based on a geometric arrangement of atoms. Note that if we try to combine objects with 5-fold
and 8-fold apparent symmetry, that we cannot combine them in such a way that they
completely fill space, as illustrated below.

Mirror Symmetry
A mirror symmetry operation is an imaginary operation that can be performed to reproduce an
object. The operation is done by imagining that you cut the object in half, then place a mirror
next to one of the halves of the object along the cut. If the reflection in the mirror reproduces
the other half of the object, then the object is said to have mirror symmetry. The plane of the
mirror is an element of symmetry referred to as a mirror plane, and is symbolized with the
letter m. As an example, the human body is an object that approximates mirror symmetry, with
the mirror plane cutting through the center of the head, the center of nose and down to the
groin.
The rectangles shown below have two planes of mirror symmetry.
The rectangle on the left
has a mirror plane that runs
vertically on the page and
is perpendicular to the
page. The rectangle on the
right has a mirror plane that
runs horizontally and is
perpendicular to the page.
The dashed parts of the
rectangles below show the
part the rectangles that
would be seen as a
reflection in the mirror
The rectangles shown above have two planes of mirror symmetry. Three dimensional and
more complex objects could have more. For example, the hexagon shown above, not only has
a 6-fold rotation axis, but has 6 mirror planes.

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Note that a rectangle does not have mirror symmetry along

the diagonal lines. If we cut the rectangle along a diagonal
such as that labeled "m ???", as shown in the upper diagram,
reflected the lower half in the mirror, then we would see what
is shown by the dashed lines in lower diagram. Since this
does not reproduce the original rectangle, the line "m???"
does not represent a mirror plane.

Center of Symmetry
Another operation that can be performed is
inversion through a point. In this operation lines
are drawn from all points on the object through a
point in the center of the object, called a
symmetry center (symbolized with the letter "i").
The lines each have lengths that are equidistant
from the original points. When the ends of the
lines are connected, the original object is
reproduced inverted from its original appearance.
In the diagram shown here, only a few such lines
are drawn for the small triangular face. The right
hand diagram shows the object without the
imaginary lines that reproduced the object.
If an object has only a center of symmetry, we say that it has a 1 fold rotoinversion axis. Such
an axis has the symbol , as shown in the right hand diagram above. Note that crystals that
have a center of symmetry will exhibit the property that if you place it on a table there will be a
face on the top of the crystal that will be parallel to the surface of the table and identical to the
face resting on the table.
Rotoinversion
Combinations of rotation with a center of symmetry perform the symmetry operation of
rotoinversion. Objects that have rotoinversion symmetry have an element of symmetry called a
rotoinversion axis. A 1-fold rotoinversion axis is the same as a center of symmetry, as discussed
above. Other possible rotoinversion are as follows:

2-fold Rotoinversion - The operation of 2-fold rotoinversion

involves first rotating the object by 180o then inverting it
through an inversion center. This operation is equivalent to
having a mirror plane perpendicular to the 2-fold rotoinversion
axis. A 2-fold rotoinversion axis is symbolized as a 2 with a

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bar over the top, and would be pronounced as "bar 2". But,
since this the equivalent of a mirror plane, m, the bar 2 is rarely
used.

3-fold Rotoinversion - This involves rotating the object by 120o

(360/3 = 120), and inverting through a center. A cube is good
example of an object that possesses 3-fold rotoinversion axes. A
3-fold rotoinversion axis is denoted as (pronounced "bar 3").
Note that there are actually four axes in a cube, one running
through each of the corners of the cube. If one holds one of the
axes vertical, then note that there are 3 faces on top, and 3
identical faces upside down on the bottom that are offset from
the top faces by 120o.

4-fold Rotoinversion - This involves rotation of the object by 90o then

inverting through a center. A four fold rotoinversion axis is symbolized as
. Note that an object possessing a 4- fold rotoinversion axis will have two
faces on top and two identical faces upside down on the bottom, if the
axis is held in the vertical position.

6-fold Rotoinversion - A 6-fold rotoinversion axis ( )

involves rotating the object by 60o and inverting through a
center. Note that this operation is identical to having the
combination of a 3-fold rotation axis perpendicular to a
mirror plane.

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Combinations of Symmetry Operations

As should be evident by now, in three dimensional objects, such as crystals, symmetry
elements may be present in several different combinations. In fact, in crystals there are 32
possible combinations of symmetry elements. These 32 combinations define the 32 Crystal
Classes. Every crystal must belong to one of these 32 crystal classes. In the next lecture we
will start to go over each of these crystal classes in detail, but the best way to be able to identify
each crystal class is not by listening to me lecture, not necessarily by reading about each class,
but actually looking at models of perfect crystals in the lab. In fact, it is my opinion that it is
next to impossible to identify symmetry elements and crystal classes without spending a lot of
time examining and studying the 3-dimensional models in lab.
Here, I will just give one example of how the various symmetry elements are combined in a
somewhat completed crystal. One point that I want to emphasize in this discussion is that if 2
kinds of symmetry elements are present in the same crystal, then they will operate on each
other to produce other symmetrical symmetry elements. This should become clear as we go
over the example below.

In this example we will start out with the crystal shown here. Note that this
crystal has rectangular-shaped sides with a square- shaped top and bottom.
The square-shaped top indicates that there must be a 4-fold rotation axis
perpendicular to the square shaped face. This is shown in the diagram.

Also note that the rectangular shaped

face on the left side of the crystal must
have a 2-fold rotation axis that
intersects it. Note that the two fold
axis runs through the crystal and exits
on the left-hand side (not seen in this
view), so that both the left and right hand sides of the crystal are
perpendicular to a 2-fold rotation axis.

Since the top face of the crystal has a 4-fold rotation axis, operation of this 4-fold rotation must
reproduce the face with the perpendicular 2-fold axis on a 90o rotation. Thus, the front and
back faces of the crystal will also have perpendicular 2-fold rotation axes, since these are
required by the 4-fold axis.

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The square-shaped top of the

crystal also suggests that there
must be a 2-fold axis that cuts
diagonally through the crystal.
This 2-fold axis is shown here
in the left-hand diagram. But,
again operation of the 4-fold
axis requires that the other
diagonals also have 2-fold axis,
as shown in the right-hand
diagram.
Furthermore, the squareshaped top and
rectangular-shaped front of
the crystal suggest that a
plane of symmetry is
present as shown by the
left-hand diagram here.
But, again, operation of
the 4-fold axis requires
that a mirror plane is also
present that cuts through
the side faces, as shown by
the diagram on the right.

The square top further

suggests that there must be
a mirror plane cutting the
diagonal through the
crystal. This mirror plane
will be reflected by the
other mirror planes cutting
the sides of the crystal, or
will be reproduced by the
4-fold rotation axis, and
thus the crystal will have
another mirror plane
cutting through the other
diagonal, as shown by the
diagram on the right.

Finally, there is another mirror plane that cuts through the center of the crystal parallel to the
top and bottom faces.

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Thus, this crystal has the following symmetry elements:

z
z

1 - 4-fold rotation axis (A4)

4 - 2-fold rotation axes (A2), 2 cutting the faces
& 2 cutting the edges.
5 mirror planes (m), 2 cutting across the faces, 2
cutting through the edges, and one cutting
horizontally through the center.
Note also that there is a center of symmetry (i).

The symmetry content of this crystal is thus: i, 1A4,

4A2, 5m
If you look at Table 6.3 page120 of your text, you should see that this belongs to crystal class
4/m2/m2/m. This class is the ditetragonal dipyramidal class. We will discuss this notation and
the various crystals classes in the next lecture.
Examples of questions on this material that could be asked on an exam
1. What is a mineral? (Be sure you can provide an exact and thorough definition).
2. What is the difference between an organic process and an inorganic process?
3. Although this is just an introductory discussion of symmetry and symmetry operations
and you will get more comfortable with this material as the course progresses, eventually
you should be able to recognize symmetry elements in 2 dimensional drawings and 3
dimensional objects.
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