Calcite Mineral : Uses, Physical Properties of Minerals

What is Calcite?

 

Calcite may be a rock-forming mineral with a formula of CaCO_{3. It’s extremely common and located throughout the planet in sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks. Some geologists consider it to be a "Ubiquitous mineral" - one that's found everywhere.}

 

Calcite is that the principal constituent of limestone and marble. These rocks are extremely common and structure a big portion of crust. They function one among the most important carbon repositories on our planet.

 

The properties of calcite make it one among the foremost widely used minerals. It’s used as a construction material, abrasive, agricultural soil treatment, construction aggregate, pigment, pharmaceutical and more. It’s more uses than almost the other mineral.

Natural Calcite Crystals 

 

Calcite as Limestone and Marble

 

Limestone may be a rock that's composed primarily of calcite. It forms from the chemical precipitation of carbonate and therefore the transformation of shell, coral, fecal and algal debris into calcite during diagenesis. Limestone also forms as a deposit in caves from the precipitation of carbonate.

 

Marble may be a rock that forms when limestone is subjected to heat and pressure. An in depth examination of a broken piece of marble will usually reveal obvious cleavage faces of calcite. The dimensions of the calcite crystals are decided by the extent of metamorphism. Marble that has been subjected to higher levels of metamorphism will generally have larger calcite crystals.

 

 

Uses of Calcite in Construction

 

The construction industry is that the primary consumer of calcite within the sort of limestone and marble. These rocks are used as dimension stones and in mortar for thousands of years. Limestone blocks were the first construction material utilized in many of the pyramids of Egypt and Latin America. Today, rough and polished limestone and marble are still a crucial material utilized in prestige architecture.

 

Modern construction uses calcite within the sort of limestone and marble to supply cement and concrete. These materials are easily mixed, transported, and placed within the sort of slurry which will harden into a durable construction material. Concrete is employed to form buildings, highways, bridges, walls, and lots of other structures.

Quartz With Calcite Minerals

 

Uses in Acid Neutralization

 

Calcite has numerous uses as a neutralizer of acids. For many years, limestones and marbles are crushed and spread on fields as an acid-neutralizing soil treatment. They’re also heated to supply lime that features a much faster reaction rate within the soil.

 

Calcite is employed as an acid neutralizer within the industry. In areas were streams are plagued with acid mine drainage, crushed limestone is dispensed into the streams to neutralize their waters.

 

Calcium carbonate derived from high-purity limestones or marbles is employed in medicine. Mixed with sugar and flavoring, carbonate is formed into chewable tablets utilized in the neutralization of stomach acids. It’s also an ingredient in numerous medications wont to treat digestive and other ailments.

Sphalerite With Calcite 

Calcium Carbonate Sorbents

 

Sorbents are substances that have the power to "capture" another substance. Limestone is usually treated and used as sorbent during the burning of fossil fuels. Carbonate reacts with sulphur dioxide and other gases within the combustion emissions, absorbs them, and prevents them from escaping to the atmosphere.

 

Monuments and Statuary

 

Marble is a beautiful and simply worked rock that has long been used for monuments and sculptures. Its lack of serious porosity allows it to face up well to freeze-thaw action outdoors, and its low hardness makes it a simple stone to figure. It’s been utilized in projects as large because the pyramids and as small as a figurine. It’s widely used as cemetery markers, statues, mantles, benches, stairways, and far more.

 

 

Calcite Minerals 

Many Other Uses

 

In a powdered form, calcite often has a particularly white color. Powdered calcite is usually used as a white pigment or "whiting." a number of the earliest paints were made with calcite. It’s a primary ingredient in whitewash, and it's used as an inert coloring ingredient of paint.

 

Pulverized limestone and marble are often used as a dietary supplement in animal feed. Chickens that produce eggs and cattle that produce milk got to consume a calcium-rich diet. Small amounts of carbonate are often added to their feeds to reinforce their calcium intake.

Calcite With Quartz Minerals 

 

Calcite features a hardness of three on the Mohs scale, which makes it suitable as a low-hardness abrasive. It’s softer than the stone, porcelain, and plastic surfaces found in kitchens and bathrooms but more durable than dried food and other debris that folks want to get rid of. Its low hardness makes it an efficient cleaning agent that doesn't damage the surface being cleaned.

 

Pulverized limestone is additionally used as a mine safety dust. are often">this is often a nonflammable dust that's sprayed onto the walls and roofs of underground coal mines to scale back the quantity of coal dust within the air (which can be an explosion hazard). The mine safety dust adheres to the wall of the mine and immobilizes the coal dust. Its white color aids in illumination of the mine. It’s the right material for this use.

 

Calcite And Mica 

Calcite: A CO_{2  Repository}

 

Carbon dioxide is a crucial gas in Earth's environment. Within the atmosphere it is a greenhouse emission that works to trap and hold heat near the surface of the earth. The method of limestone formation removes CO_{2 from the atmosphere and stores it away for long periods of your time. This process has been occurring for many years - producing enormous volumes of stored CO2. When these rocks are weathered, wont to neutralize acids, heated to form cement or metamorphosed severely, a number of their CO2 is released and returned to the atmosphere. All of those processes of limestone formation and destruction have an impression on Earth's climate.}

 

Physical Properties of Calcite
Chemical Classification	Carbonate
Color	Usually white but also colorless, gray, red, green, blue, yellow, brown, orange
Streak	White
Luster	Vitreous
Diaphaneity	Transparent to translucent
Cleavage	Perfect, rhombohedra, three directions
Hardness	3
Specific Gravity	2.7
Diagnostic Properties	Rhombohedral cleavage, powdered form effervesces weakly in dilute HCl, curved crystal faces and frequent twinning
Chemical Composition	CaCO3
Crystal System	Hexagonal
Uses	Acid neutralization, a low-hardness abrasive, soil conditioner, heated for the production of lime