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 Post subject: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 3:53 pm 
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Name two natural minerals made up of all and only these three elements:
aluminium and oxygen and phosphorus.


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 4:59 pm 
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Sphaerite, variscite, Utahlite, (all the same) and metavarisite.


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:05 pm 
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Good try, but the minerals you mentioned are also made up of hydrogen.


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 7:29 pm 
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I know berlinite, famous for looking just like quartz and being surprisingly hard, but not sure what the other would be.

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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2020 11:17 pm 
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cascaillou wrote:
Good try, but the minerals you mentioned are also made up of hydrogen.

Ah - I thought the water wouldn't count.


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 2:28 am 
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Whenever you need to search minerals by chemistry, here's a useful link:
https://www.mindat.org/chemsearch.php

Yes berlinite! Then, what's the other one?


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 1:06 pm 
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cascaillou wrote:
Good try, but the minerals you mentioned are also made up of hydrogen.

Interesting - my sources say Sphaerite is (Zn,Fe)S. No H. Explain?


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 1:35 pm 
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sphaerite is just a synonym of variscite. Not the same than sphalerite.

Back to the riddle: one of the two minerals is indeed berlinite...then what might be the other one? (remember, this is a riddle)


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:38 am 
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opal ! :D :D

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http://www.gemsdat.be/engels.htm


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 10:27 am 
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Answer to the riddle is indeed berlinite and opal.
Congratulations!

Indeed, berlinite is the one and only mineral with simply O and P and Al in its chemical formula (which is AlPO4), but with O-P-Al you can also spell opal.


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 12:16 pm 
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cascaillou wrote:
sphaerite is just a synonym of variscite. Not the same than sphalerite.

Back to the riddle: one of the two minerals is indeed berlinite...then what might be the other one? (remember, this is a riddle)


Oops, Google pulled one over on me. Turns out Sphaerites are beetles :-)


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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2020 5:45 pm 
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No fair opal is a mineralloid

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 Post subject: Re: An impossible duo
PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2020 6:40 am 
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Indeed, but opal is still an IMA accepted valid mineral species (for historical reasons), so I thought it was ok.

You can try your chance again with the new riddle I have posted :)


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