Baryte has got the chemical formula BaSO4. Another name for Baryte is heavy spar. The name Baryt comes from the Greek word barys (heavy). The reason for the name is the density of 4.48 g/cm3 which is rather high for a mineral. Usually Baryte is transparent, but there are also opaque aggregates. Often the form of the crystals is a column or a board, but there are also crystals in form of leafs like desert roses. It is a very important barium mineral and barium is made of it. Like other barium salts it burns with a green flame. Baryte is chemical resistant. In some properties Baryte and Celestine are very similiar to each other, for example the form of their crystals. The reason is that both minerals are sulfates and both elements strontium and barium are alkaline earth metals (2nd main group of the periodic table of the elements) and so they are similiar to each other. There are also mixed crystals of Baryte with other metals: calcium, strontium and lead. Baryte can be found in Germany, in Great Britain, in France and in the USA.
Data about Baryte
Chemical formula
BaSO4
Mineral class
sulfates
Crystal system
rhombical
Hardness
3 to 3.5
Density
4.48 g/cm3
Color
colorless, white, grey, yellow, blue
Line color
white
Gloss
glass gloss
Break
shell, inflexibly
Fissileness
perfectly
Author and Webmaster: Lukas Czarnecki
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