Online Encyclopedia

HAl (SiO3)2. It occurs in two more or less distinct varieties, namely, as crystalline folia and as compact masses; distinct crystals are not known. The folia have a pronounced pearly lustre, owing to the presence of a perfect cleavage parallel to their surfaces: they are flexible but not elastic, and are usually arranged radially in See also:

FAN (Lat. vannus; Fr. eventail)

fan-like or spherical See also:

groups. This variety, when heated before the See also:

BLOWPIPE

blowpipe, exfoliates and swells up to many times its See also:

ORIGINAL

original See also:

VOLUME

volume, hence the name pyrophyllite, from the See also:

Greek 76p (See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire) and quahov (a See also:

LEAF (O. Eng. leaf, cf. Dutch loof, Ger. Laub, Swed. lof, &c.; possibly to be referred to the root seen in Gr. Ma-eta, to peel, strip)

leaf), given by R. See also:

Hermann in 1829. The See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour of both varieties is See also:

white, See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale See also:

green, greyish or yellowish ; they are very soft (H. = 1–2) and are greasy to the See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch. The specific gravity is 2.8–2.9. The two varieties are thus very similar respectively to See also:

TALC

talc (q.v.) and its compact variety steatite, which is, however, a hydrous See also:

MAGNESIUM [symbol Mg, atomic weight 24.32 (0 = 16)]

magnesium H See also:

C2H //',,,.// O \C.C6H3(OH)2 CO/`OH See also:

C6H4 silicate. The compact variety of pyrophyllite is used for See also:

SLATE (properly CLAY SLATE; in M. Eng. slat or sclat, from O. Fr. esclat, a small piece of wood used as a tile; esclater, to break into pieces, whence modern Fr. eclat, the root being seen also in Ger. schleissen, to split)

slate pencils and tailors' See also:

CHALK

chalk (" See also:

French chalk "), and is carved by the See also:

CHINESE, JAPANESE AND

Chinese into small images and ornaments of various kinds. Other soft compact minerals (steatite and pinite) used for these Chinese carvings are included with pyrophyllite under the terms agalmatolite and pagodite. Pyrophyllite occurs in schistose rocks, often associated with See also:

CYANITE

cyanite, of which it is an alteration product.

Pale green foliated masses, very like talc in See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance, are found at Beresovsk near See also:

EKATERINBURG

Ekaterinburg in the Urals, and at See also:

ZERMATT

Zermatt in See also:

SWITZERLAND

Switzerland. The most extensive deposits are in the Deep See also:

RIVER

river region of See also:

North Carolina, where the compact variety is See also:

MINED

mined, and in See also:

South Carolina and See also:

GEORGIA

Georgia.

End of Article: PYROPHYLLITE

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PYROPHORUS (Gr. 7rup, fire, 4 perv, to bear)

[next]
PYROXENE