Mineral phase
IMA name
Gwihabaite
Type
Class
non-silicate mineral
Compound type
nitrate
Chemical composition
Formula
$(NH_4,K)(NO_3)$
Chemical formula
(NH4,K)NO3
Elemental formula
(K+)0-1 (N+)1-2 (H)0-4 O (O-)2
Isotope mixture type
terrestrial abundance
  Formula Name Family Number min-max Isotope mole fraction State Relevance
$K^+$ Potassium(1+) cation element 0 - 1 constituent cation main
$NH_4^+$ Ammonium ion molecule 0 - 1 constituent cation main
$(NO_3)^-$ Nitrate anion chemical function 1 anionic radical main
Chemical functions
  Function Number
$H_4 >\mid N^+$ 1
$(NO_3)^-$ 1
Chemical bonds
  Bond Number
$>\mid N^+ \cdot O^{-}-$
$K^+ \cdot O^{-}-$
$\geq N^+-H$ 4
$\dddot - \dddot - N^+ \dddot - O^{-2/3}$ 3
Oxides
Formula $K_{2}O$ $N_{2}O_{5}$
Mass fraction (%)
Oxides comments
calculated with N2O5 as (NH4)2O

Strunz

Class
carbonates - nitrates (05)
Division
nitrates (05.N)
Family
without OH or H2O (05.NA)
Code
05.NA.15

Dana

Major class
carbonates, nitrates, borates (V)
Class
simple nitrates (18)
Type
where A xNO3·x(H2O), x can equal zero (18.01)
Group
Niter series (18.01.02)
Code
18.01.02.02
Phase type
crystalline
Crystal system
orthorhombic
Crystal class
dipyramidal
Crystal class symbol
mmm (D2h)
Crystal spacegroup
Pmmm
Molar mass
85.31 $g/mol$
Density
1.77 (1.80 calculated) $g/cm^3$
State NTP
solid
Refringence type
biaxial
Refringence sign
negative
Birefringence
0.141
Refraction index $n_{\alpha}$
1.458
Refraction index $n_{\beta}$
1.527
Refraction index $n_{\gamma}$
1.599
Dispersion V
none
Pure color
colorless
Color
colorless, white
Diaphaneity
transparent
Luster
vitreous
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