A Stamp Your Crystallographer Would Like
A Stamp Your Crystallographer Would Like
First identified in 1821, scheelite is a calcium tungstate (CaWO4) and is often found as relatively large golden yellow or orange crystals. Notable sources of this mineral are located in Australia, Austria, Bolivia, Brazil, the Sichuan province in China, England, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, the Tong Wha mine in South Korea, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. It was named after the famous Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele (1742–1786), who discovered tungsten independently from the d’Elhuyar brothers in Spain among many other accomplishments. For example, Scheele is partially credited with the discovery of oxygen and chlorine, which he actually achieved before—but unfortunately published after—the isolation of these elemental gases was reported by Joseph Priestley and Humphry Davy, respectively.
Remarkably, the Peruvian stamp pictured herein not only includes the name and chemical formula of the mineral but accurately shows that it crystallizes in the tetragonal system, which can be regarded as an elongated cube (i.e., a rectangular prism with a square base [thus, a = b ≠ c] and right angles between the three crystallographic axes [α = β = γ = 90°])!
Written by Daniel Rabinovich <drabinov@email.uncc.edu>.
Page last modified 15 June 2007.
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- IUPAC Web Developments
- Ethics and Science on Stage
- A Stamp Your Crystallographer Would Like
- The Role of ICCA and SAICM
- Assuring Quality of Analytical Measurement Results: The IUPAC Role
- IUPAC Council Round Table Discussions
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- Structure-Based Nomenclature for Cyclic Macromolecules
- Further Conventions for NMR Chemical Shifts
- Biorefineries–Industrial Processes and Products: Status Quo and Future Directions
- Combining and Reporting Analytical Results
- Macromolecular Symposia–recent volumes
- Developments and Applications in Solubility
- Radical Polymerization – Kinetics and Mechanism
- Advanced Polymers for Emerging Technologies
- Green Chemistry
- Occupational Health and Safety Management in East Africa
- Asian Chemistry Education 30-31 July 2007, Taipei, Taiwan
- Emerging Chemical Regulatory Environment World Chemistry Leadership Meeting, IUPAC 2007 General Assembly 10 August 2007, Torino, Italy
- MacroMolecular Complexes 27–31 August 2007, Fukuoka, Japan
- Mendeleev Congress 23–28 September, Moscow, Russia
- Physical Organic Chemistry 30 September–5 October 2007, Córdoba, Argentina
- Food Security in Africa 2–5 December 2007, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Space Research 13–20 July 2008, Montreal, Canada
- Mark Your Calendar
Articles in the same Issue
- Masthead
- From the Editor
- Contents
- IUPAC Web Developments
- Ethics and Science on Stage
- A Stamp Your Crystallographer Would Like
- The Role of ICCA and SAICM
- Assuring Quality of Analytical Measurement Results: The IUPAC Role
- IUPAC Council Round Table Discussions
- Margaret Brimble Wins Major International Award
- RSC Publishing Launches Project Prospect
- IUPAC Prize for Young Chemists
- DrugBank–An Internet Source for Drug Information
- Glossary of Terms Related to Kinetics, Thermodynamics and Mechanisms of Polymerization
- Glossary of Terms Related to Solubility
- Graphical Representation Standards for Chemical Structure Diagrams
- Structure-Based Nomenclature for Cyclic Macromolecules
- Further Conventions for NMR Chemical Shifts
- Biorefineries–Industrial Processes and Products: Status Quo and Future Directions
- Combining and Reporting Analytical Results
- Macromolecular Symposia–recent volumes
- Developments and Applications in Solubility
- Radical Polymerization – Kinetics and Mechanism
- Advanced Polymers for Emerging Technologies
- Green Chemistry
- Occupational Health and Safety Management in East Africa
- Asian Chemistry Education 30-31 July 2007, Taipei, Taiwan
- Emerging Chemical Regulatory Environment World Chemistry Leadership Meeting, IUPAC 2007 General Assembly 10 August 2007, Torino, Italy
- MacroMolecular Complexes 27–31 August 2007, Fukuoka, Japan
- Mendeleev Congress 23–28 September, Moscow, Russia
- Physical Organic Chemistry 30 September–5 October 2007, Córdoba, Argentina
- Food Security in Africa 2–5 December 2007, Stellenbosch, South Africa
- Space Research 13–20 July 2008, Montreal, Canada
- Mark Your Calendar
