Forsterite (Mg₂SiO₄, S1₂)

Unit cell

Lattice constants

a = 10.193 Å, b = 5.977 Å, c = 4.752 Å; α = 90.00°, β = 90.00°, γ = 90.00°

Cell volume

289.5 ų

Atoms in the conventional cell

28 (Mg 8, O 16, Si 4)

Formula units Z

4

Pearson symbol

oP28 — orthorhombic, primitive lattice, 28 atoms per conventional cell

Symmetry operations

8 per cell

Crystallographic sites

The multiplicity and the Wyckoff letter say how many copies of the site the group makes in one cell and on which kind of symmetry element the site sits; the 28 atoms drawn above are these sites multiplied by all 8 operations. Press Wyckoff under Colour to see the sites, and tick a symmetry element on the left to see which atoms lie on it.

How to read the label

A2B4C_oP28_62_ac_2cd_c-001: the stoichiometry comes first (A, B, C… are the elements in alphabetical order of their site labels), then the Pearson symbol oP28, then the space-group number 62, then the Wyckoff letters occupied by each element in turn (Mg: 4a; Mg: 4c; O: 4c; O: 4c; Si: 4c; O: 8d). Two structures with the same label are the same arrangement with different cell parameters or coordinates.

Other compounds with this structure

Al₂BeO₄, Fe₂SiO₄ (fayalite), Fe₂SiS₄, Mg₂GeO₄, Mg₂GeS₄, Mg₂GeS₄, Mn₂GeS₄, Tm₂ZnS₄ <!--beginning with an

Note: S1₂, Forsterite.

Source

Coordinates and cell from the AFLOW Encyclopedia of Crystallographic Prototypes, entry A2B4C_oP28_62_ac_2cd_c-001 (M. J. Mehl et al., Comput. Mater. Sci. 136, S1 (2017); D. Hicks et al., ibid. 161, S1 (2019) and 199, 110450 (2021); S. Eckert et al., ibid. 240, 112988 (2024)). Symmetry elements, Wyckoff assignment and the diagram are computed on this page from the group operations.