खनिज विज्ञान शब्दावली

Unit Cell

The smallest repeating structural unit of a crystal lattice that, when repeated in all directions, …

Pseudomorph

A mineral that has the external form of another mineral species, formed by chemical replacement …

Space Group

A mathematical description of the full symmetry of a crystal structure, combining point symmetry with …

Symmetry Element

A geometric element (axis, plane, center) with respect to which one or more symmetry operations …

Polymorphism

The ability of a chemical compound to crystallize in more than one crystal structure. Diamond …

Crystal Face

A flat, planar surface on a natural crystal that reflects an internal plane of atoms. …

Twinning

The intergrowth of two or more crystal individuals in a symmetrical relationship, producing contact twins, …

Crystal Habit

The characteristic external shape or form of a mineral crystal, described by terms such as …

Enantiomorphism

The property of a crystal structure that exists in two mirror-image forms (like left and …

Epitaxy

The oriented overgrowth of one crystalline material on the surface of another, with a specific …

Miller Indices

A notation system using three integers (hkl) to describe the orientation of crystal faces and …

Bravais Lattice

One of 14 distinct three-dimensional lattice types that describe all possible periodic arrangements of points …

Crystal Zone

A set of crystal faces whose intersecting edges are all parallel to a common direction …

Crystal System

One of seven categories of crystal symmetry (cubic, hexagonal, trigonal, orthorhombic, tetragonal, monoclinic, triclinic) defined …

Point Group

The set of symmetry operations (rotation, reflection, inversion) that describe the macroscopic symmetry of a …