Molar refraction of quartz family minerals

Abstract

Different polymorphs of silica and the opals exhibit significant variations in densities. The paper discusses and correlates the variations in the molar refraction with density. It emerges that in different polymorphs of silica, the increase in density involves a corresponding increase in the characteristic dispersion frequencies leading to a decrease in the molar refraction. The variation of the molar refraction with density can be represented in terms of an elementary formula. The variation of the molar refraction of opals with the water content in them is also accounted for.