Tiptopite Mineral Data

General Tiptopite Information

Chemical Formula:

K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2•(H2O)

Composition:

Molecular Weight = 829.47 gm

Potassium 9.43 % K 11.36 % K₂O

Sodium 4.16 % Na 5.60 % Na₂O

Lithium 2.51 % Li 5.40 % Li₂O

Calcium 2.42 % Ca 3.38 % CaO

Beryllium 6.52 % Be 18.09 % BeO

Phosphorus 22.40 % P 51.34 % P₂O₅

Hydrogen 0.49 % H 4.34 % H₂O

Oxygen 52.08 % O

______ ______

100.00 % 99.52 % = TOTAL OXIDE

Empirical Formula:

K₂Na_1.5Ca_0.5Li₃Be₆(PO₄)₆(OH)₂•(H₂O)

Environment:

Pegmatite mineral.

IMA Status:

Approved IMA 1985

Locality:

Tip Top mine, Custer, Custer County, South Dakota, USA Link to MinDat.org Location Data.

Name Origin:

Named for the locality.

Name Pronunciation:

Tiptopite + Pronunciation

Synonym:

ICSD 202308

PDF 38-374

Tiptopite Image

Images:

Tiptopite Montgomeryite

Comments: Clear, acicular crystals of tiptopite with red montgomeryite.
Location: Tip Top mine, Custer, Custer County, South Dakota, USA. Scale: Not Given.
© Lou Perloff / Photo Atlas of Minerals

Images:

Tiptopite Englishite Montgomeryite

Comments: Red montgomeryite lath-like crystals to 1mm in 2mm rosettes associated with clear, acicular sprays of tiptopite to 0.75mm and white cottonball-like crystals of englishite to 0.2mm.
Location: Tip Top mine, Custer Co., South Dakota, USA. Scale: Picture size 5 mm.
© Tom Loomis / Dakota Matrix

Tiptopite Crystallography

Axial Ratios:

a:c = 1:0.40257

Cell Dimensions:

a = 11.655, c = 4.692, Z = 1; V = 551.97 Den(Calc)= 2.50

Crystal System:

Hexagonal - Pyramidal H-M Symbol (6) Space Group: P 6₃

$Help on X Ray Diffraction:$ X Ray Diffraction:

By Intensity(I/I_o): 2.966(1), 2.525(0.9), 2.348(0.7),

Physical Properties of Tiptopite

Cleavage:

None

Color:

Colorless.

Density:

2.65

Diaphaneity:

Transparent to Translucent

Fracture:

Uneven - Flat surfaces (not cleavage) fractured in an uneven pattern.

Habit:

Acicular - Occurs as needle-like crystals.

Habit:

Radial - Crystals radiate from a center without producing stellar forms (e.g. stibnite)

Hardness:

3.5 - Copper Penny

Luster:

Vitreous (Glassy)

Streak:

white

Optical Properties of Tiptopite

Gladstone-Dale:

CI meas= -0.003 (Superior) - where the CI = (1-KPDmeas/KC)
CI calc= -0.064 (Fair) - where the CI = (1-KPDcalc/KC)
KPDcalc= 0.222,KPDmeas= 0.2094,KC= 0.2087
Ncalc = 1.52 - 1.55

Optical Data:

Uniaxial (+), w=1.551, e=1.559, bire=0.0080.

Calculated Properties of Tiptopite

Electron Density:

Bulk Density (Electron Density)=2.60 gm/cc
note: Specific Gravity of Tiptopite =2.65 gm/cc.

Fermion Index:

Fermion Index = 0.06
Boson Index = 0.94

Photoelectric:

PE_Tiptopite= 2.47 barns/electron
U=PE_Tiptopite x r_electron= 6.44 barns/cc.

Radioactivity:

GRapi = 133.63 (Gamma Ray American Petroleum Institute Units)
Concentration of Tiptopite per GRapi unit = 0.75 (%)

Estimated Radioactivity from Tiptopite - barely detectable

Tiptopite Classification

Dana Class:

42.06.11.01 (42)Hydrated Phosphates, etc., Containing Hydroxyl or Halogen

(42.06)where (AB)2 (XO4) Zq ï¿½ x(H2O)

(42.06.11)Dana Group

42.06.11.01 Tiptopite K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2•(H2O) P 6₃ 6

Strunz Class:

08.DA.25 08 - PHOSPHATES, ARSENATES, VANADATES

08.D - Phosphates, etc

08.DA -With small (and occasionally larger) cations

08.DA.25 Tiptopite K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2•(H2O) P 6₃ 6

Other Tiptopite Information

References:

NAME( Dana8) PHYS. PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990) OPTIC PROP.(Enc. of Minerals,2nd ed.,1990)

See Also:

Links to other databases for Tiptopite :
1 - Am. Min. Crystal Structure Database
2 - Athena
3 - EUROmin Project
4 - Ecole des Mines de Paris
5 - GeoScienceWorld
6 - Google Images
7 - Google Scholar
8 - Handbook of Mineralogy (MinSocAm)
9 - Handbook of Mineralogy (UofA)
10 - MinDAT
11 - Mineralienatlas (Deutsch)
12 - Online Mineral Museum
13 - QUT Mineral Atlas
14 - Ruff.Info
15 - WWW-MINCRYST

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Print or Cut-and-Paste your Tiptopite Specimen Label here :

Tiptopite

K2(Na,Ca)2Li3Be6(PO4)6(OH)2•(H2O)
Dana No: 42.06.11.01 Strunz No: 08.DA.25
Locality:

Notes:

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