Constituent
Name
Spinel
IMA name
Spinel
Class
non-silicate mineral
Compound type
oxide-hydroxide
Constituent abundance in material
Relevance
main - major
Arrangement
single phase
Mass fraction
1.0
Chemical composition
Formula
$MgAl_2O_4$
Chemical formula
MgAl2O4
Elemental formula
Mg1.011 Al1.987 O4 Fe0.008 V0.001
Isotope mixture type
terrestrial abundance
  Formula Name Family Number min-max Isotope mole fraction State Relevance
$Mg$ Magnesium element 1.011 1.0 constituent element main
$Al$ Aluminium element 1.987 1.0 constituent element main
$O$ Oxygen element 4 1.0 constituent element main
$Fe$ Iron element 0.008 1.0 constituent element replacement
$V$ Vanadium element 0.001 1.0 constituent element replacement
Composition comments
common replacement: Zn, $Fe^{2+}\!$, $Mn^{2+}\!$ in place of Mg; $Fe^{3+}\!$, Cr, Ti, V in place of Al - common impurities: Ca in place of Mg; Zn, Si in place of Al
Oxides
Formula $FeO$ $MgO$ $MnO$ $Al_{2}O_{3}$ $Cr_{2}O_{3}$ $V_{2}O_{3}$
Mass fraction (%) 0.39 29.03 0.01 72.18 0.01 0.03

Strunz

Class
oxides - hydroxides - arsenites (04)
Division
metal:oxygen = 3:4 and similar (04.B)
Family
with only medium-sized cations (04.BB)
Code
04.BB.05

Dana

Major class
oxides and hydroxides (III)
Class
multiple oxides (07)
Type
(A+B++)2X4 Spinel group (07.02)
Group
Aluminium subgroup (07.02.01)
Code
07.02.01.01
Phase type
crystalline
Crystal system
isometric (cubic)
Crystal class
hexoctahedral
Crystal class symbol
m-3m (Oh)
Crystal spacegroup
Fd-3m
Molar mass
142.65 $g/mol$
Density
3.57 - 3.72 $g/cm^3$
Refringence type
isotropic
Refringence sign
no
Birefringence
0
Refraction index $n_{\alpha}$
1.72 - 1.80
Color
colorless, pink, red, violet, blue, green, brown, black
Diaphaneity
transparent to opaque
Luster
vitreous