Two or more minerals are called isostructures or isotypes if they have a similar structure, that is, they may have a very different chemical composition but the relative positions between the atoms of the elementary cell are similar. Two isostructural minerals are characterized by having similar lines in the diffractograms while changing the position and intensity.

An example of two isostructural minerals is given by uranium (UO2) and fluorite (CaF2). The uranium structure is formed by four U ions around each oxygen atom and each uranium atom is surrounded by 8 anions O. Similarly, in the fluorite four Ca ions are about each fluorine atom and 8 anions F around each calcium atom. Links externalize the wikitesto

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