Apatite

From Conservapedia

Apatite
Chemical name	Calcium fluorine-chlorine-hydroxyl phosphates
Chemical formula	Ca5(F,Cl,OH)(PO4)3
Identification
Colors	White, colorless and gray,, many shades of green, blue, yellow; also reddish, pink, violet
Crystal habit	Predominantly short to long hexagonal prisms
Crystal system	Hexagonal
Cleavage	Poor cleavages parallel to c[0001] and m[1010]
Fracture	smooth conchoidal in clear crystals, but mostly uneven to small conchoidal
Hardness	5
Name origin	Greek apate, "deceit," because Apatite is often mistaken for other species
Specific gravity	3.1-3.2
Streak	White

Apatite occurs as an accessory mineral in almost all igneous rocks, in metamorphic rocks, in veins and other ore deposits; and most commonly as fine-grained and often impure masses as the chief constituent of phosphate rock and of most or all bones and teeth. Apatite is number 5 on the Mohs Hardness Scale.

Sources

• Sinkankas, John; Mineralogy for Amateurs, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1964, pp. 416-418
• http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2001/of01-128/Glossary.htm
• Bates, R.L. and Jackson, J.A., eds., 1980, Glossary of Geology, Second Edition: American Geological Institute, Falls Church, Virginia, 749 p.
• Webmineral data
• Mineral Galleries
• Mindat.org

Apatite Gallery

Apatite - Madagascar.	Apatite crystals.	Apatite - Russia.	Apatite - Pakistan.
Apatite - Mexico.