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Arsenic

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Gabe Gottes Mine (incl. Giftgrube), Ste Marie-aux-Mines (Markirch), Haut-Rhin, Alsace, France
© Paul De Bondt

Show Arsenic Photos (107)
Formula:
As
System:TrigonalColour:Tin-white, tarnishing to ...
Lustre:Metallic, DullHardness:3½
Name:From Greek "arsenikon", masculine, alluding to its potent properties.


Arsenic Group .

Classification of Arsenic

IMA status:Valid - first described prior to 1959 (pre-IMA) - "Grandfathered"
Strunz 8th edition ID:1/B.01-10
Nickel-Strunz 10th (pending) edition ID:1.CA.05

1 : ELEMENTS (Metals and intermetallic alloys; metalloids and nonmetals; carbides, silicides, nitrides, phosphides)
C : Metalloids and Nonmetals
A : Arsenic group elements
Dana 7th edition ID:1.3.1.1
Dana 8th edition ID:1.3.1.1

1 : NATIVE ELEMENTS AND ALLOYS
3 : Semi-metals and non-metals
Hey's CIM Ref.:1.33

1 : Elements and Alloys (including the arsenides, antimonides and bismuthides of Cu, Ag and Au)
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Physical Properties of Arsenic

Lustre:Metallic, Dull
Diaphaneity (Transparency):Opaque
Colour:Tin-white, tarnishing to dark grey or black.
Streak:Grey
Hardness (Mohs):3½
Hardness (Vickers):VHN100=72 - 173 kg/mm2
Tenacity:Brittle
Fracture:Irregular/Uneven
Density (measured):5.63 - 5.78 g/cm3
Density (calculated):5.778 g/cm3

Crystallography of Arsenic

Crystal System:Trigonal
Class (H-M):3m (3 2/m) - Hexagonal Scalenohedral
Space Group:R3m {R3 2/m}
Cell Parameters:a = 3.768Å, c = 10.574Å
Ratio:a:c = 1 : 2.806
Unit Cell Volume:V 130.01 ų (Calculated from Unit Cell)
Z:6
Twinning:Rare on {10_14}, Pressure twinning on {01_12}
Crystal Atlas:
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Arsenic no.1 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Arsenic no.2 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)
Arsenic no.9 - Goldschmidt (1913-1926)

About Crystal Atlas

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The mindat.org Crystal Atlas allows you to view a selection of crystal drawings of real and idealised crystal forms for this mineral and, in certain cases, 3d rotating crystal objects. You need Java to see these. You can download Java for free - click here to download Java

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X-Ray Powder Diffraction:
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Radiation - Copper Kα
Data Set:
Horizontal Axis: ° to ° Vertical Axis: % Source Data: Filtered Data: Peaks:
Data courtesy of RRUFF project at University of Arizona, used with permission.

Optical Data of Arsenic

Type:Anisotropic
Anisotropism:Distinct - yellowish brown and light gray to yellowish gray
Pleochroism:Weak

Chemical Properties of Arsenic

Formula:
As
Essential elements:As
All elements listed in formula:As
Common Impurities:Bi,Sb,Fe,Ni,Ag,S,Se

Relationship of Arsenic to other Species

Series:Forms a series with Antimony (see here)
Member of Group:
Arsenic Group:
Related Minerals - Nickel-Strunz Grouping):

- +
1.CA.05Antimony
Sb
1.CA.05Bismuth
Bi
1.CA.05Stibarsen
AsSb
1.CA.10Arsenolamprite
As
1.CA.10Pararsenolamprite
(As,Sb)
1.CA.15Paradocrasite
Sb
 
3
As
Related Minerals - Hey's Index Grouping:

- +
1.1Copper
Cu
1.2Silver
Ag
1.5Gold
Au
1.6Auricupride
Cu
 
3
Au
1.7Tetra-auricupride
AuCu
1.8Zinc
Zn
1.9Cadmium
Cd
1.10Danbaite
CuZn
 
2
1.11Zhanghengite
CuZn
1.12Mercury
Hg
1.13Kolymite
Cu
 
7
Hg
 
6
1.14Moschellandsbergite
Ag
 
2
Hg
 
3
1.15Eugenite
Ag
 
11
Hg
 
2
1.16Schachnerite
Ag
 
1.1
Hg
 
0.9
1.17Paraschachnerite
Ag
 
3
Hg
 
2
1.18Luanheite
Ag
 
3
Hg
1.19Weishanite
(Au,Ag)
 
3
Hg
 
2
1.20Indium
In
1.21Aluminium
Al
1.22Khatyrkite
(Cu,Zn)Al
 
2
1.23Cupalite
(Cu,Zn)Al
1.24Diamond
C
1.25Graphite
C
1.26Chaoite
C
1.27Lonsdaleite
C
1.28Silicon
Si
1.29Tin
Sn
1.30Lead
Pb
1.31Anyuiite
Au(Pb,Sb)
 
2
1.31Novodneprite
AuPb
 
3
1.32Leadamalgam
HgPb
 
2
1.34Arsenolamprite
As
1.35Paxite
CuAs
 
2
1.36Koutekite
Cu
 
5
As
 
2
1.37Domeykite
Cu
 
3
As
1.38Algodonite
(Cu
 
1-x
As
 
x
)
1.39Novakite
Cu
 
20
AgAs
 
10
1.40Kutinaite
Cu
 
2
AgAs
1.41Antimony
Sb
1.42Stibarsen
AsSb
1.43Paradocrasite
Sb
 
3
As
1.44Horsfordite
1.45Cuprostibite
Cu
 
2
(Sb,Tl)
1.46Allargentum
(Ag
 
1-x
Sb
 
x
)
1.47Aurostibite
AuSb
 
2
1.48Dyscrasite
Ag
 
3
Sb
1.49Bismuth
Bi
1.50Maldonite
Au
 
2
Bi
1.51Sulphur
S
 
8
1.52Rosickýite
S
1.53Selenium
Se
1.54Tellurium
Te
1.55Chromium
Cr
1.56Rhenium
Re
1.57Iron
Fe
1.58Chromferide
Fe
 
3
Cr
 
1-x
 (x=0.6)
1.59Ferchromide
Cr
 
1.5
Fe
 
0.5-x
1.60Wairauite
CoFe
1.61Nickel
Ni
1.62Kamacite
(Fe,Ni)
1.63Taenite
(Fe,Ni)
1.64Tetrataenite
FeNi
1.65Awaruite
Ni
 
3
Fe
1.66Palladium
(Pd,Pt)
1.67Potarite
PdHg
1.68Paolovite
Pd
 
2
Sn
1.69Stannopalladinite
(Pd,Cu)
 
3
Sn
 
2
1.70Cabriite
Pd
 
2
SnCu
1.71Taimyrite
(Pd,Cu,Pt)
 
3
Sn
1.72Atokite
(Pd,Pt)
 
3
Sn
1.73Rustenburgite
(Pt,Pd)
 
3
Sn
1.74Zvyagintsevite
(Pd,Pt,Au)
 
3
(Pb,Sn)
1.75Plumbopalladinite
Pd
 
3
Pb
 
2
1.76Osmium
(Os,Ir,Ru)
1.77Iridium
(Ir,Os,Ru)
1.82Platinum
Pt
1.83Hongshiite
PtCu
1.84Niggliite
PtSn
1.85Isoferroplatinum
Pt
 
3
Fe
1.86Tetraferroplatinum
PtFe
1.87Tulameenite
Pt
 
2
CuFe
1.88Ferronickelplatinum
Pt
 
2
FeNi
1.89Rhodium
(Rh,Pt)
Related Minerals - Dana Grouping):

- +
1.3.1.2Arsenolamprite
As
1.3.1.3Stibarsen
AsSb
1.3.1.4Antimony
Sb
1.3.1.5Bismuth
Bi
1.3.1.6Pararsenolamprite
(As,Sb)

Other Names for Arsenic

Synonyms:
LöffelkobaltNative Arsenic
Other Languages:
Afrikaans:Arseen
Arabic:زرنيخ
Armenian:Մկնդեղ
Azeri:Arsen
Basque:Artseniko
Belarusian:Мыш'як
Bengali:আর্সেনিক
Bosnian (Latin Script):Arsen
Bulgarian:Арсен
Catalan:Arsènic
Corsican:Arsenicu
Croatian:Arsen
Czech:Arsen
Danish:Arsen
Dutch:Arseen
Esperanto:Arseno
Estonian:Arseen
Finnish:Arseeni
French:Arsenic
Friulian:Arsenic
Galician:Arsénico
German:Arsen
Scherbenkobalt
Greek:Αρσενικό
Haitian:Asenik
Hebrew:ארסן
Hindi:आर्सेनिक
Hungarian:Arzén
Icelandic:Arsen
Ido:Arseno
Indonesian:Arsen
Irish Gaelic:Arsanaic
Italian:Arsenico
Japanese:ヒ素
Javanese:Arsenik
Kapampangan:Arsenic
Korean:비소
Latin:Arsenicum
Latvian:Arsēns
Lithuanian:Arsenas
Lojban:arseniko
Low Saxon:Arsen
Luxembourgish:Arsen
Malayalam:ആര്‍സെനിക്
Manx:Arsnick
Marathi:आर्सेनिक
Norwegian (Bokmål):Arsen
Norwegian (Nynorsk):Arsen
Occitan:Arsenic
Persian:آرسنیک
Polish:Arsen
Portuguese:Arsênio
Quechua:Arsiniku
Romanian:Arsen
Russian:Мышьяк
Sardinian:Arsènicu
Saterland Frisian:Arsen
Serbian (Cyrillic Script):Арсен
Serbo-Croatian:Arsenik
Sicilian:Arsenicu
Simplified Chinese:砷
Slovak:Arzén
Slovenian:Arzen
Spanish:Arsénico
Swahili:Asenia
Swedish:Arsenik
Tajik (Cyrillic Script):Арсен
Tamil:ஆர்சனிக்
Thai:อาร์ซีนิก
Turkish:Arsenik
Ukrainian:Миш'як
Urdu:زرنیخ
Uzbek (Latin Script):Margimush
Vietnamese:Asen
Welsh:Arsenig

Other Information

Health Warning:Contains arsenic - always wash hands after handling. Avoid inhaling dust when handling or breaking. Never lick or ingest.

References for Arsenic

Reference List:Broderick and Ehret (1931) Journal of Physical Chemistry: 35: 3322.

Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1944), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Volume I: Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts, Oxides. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York. 7th edition, revised and enlarged, 834pp.: 89, 128-130.

Journal of Applied Crystallography (1969): 2: 30.

Anthony, J.W., Bideaux, R.A., Bladh, K.W., and Nichols, M.C. (1990) Handbook of Mineralogy, Volume I. Elements, Sulfides, Sulfosalts. Mineral Data Publishing, Tucson, AZ, 588pp.: 24.

Internet Links for Arsenic

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    Localities for Arsenic

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