Is there a way of finding out the arrangement (isolated, single chain, double chain, or the sheet one) of silicate minerals by just looking at the formula?

-- Colin Elder (belder23@aol.com), February 07, 2001

Answers

I think so, but I am not sure. If every silicate starts with the tetrahedron structure (which is one Si and four O) then the other ions bond to it you can easily figure out which arrangement it is simply by doing the math. I've been reading on page 38 and 39 in our textbook and it never exactly says yes but it does show some of the structures a little better. See if you notice anything on that page, mabey you can help me to understand it better myself. :)

-- Carla Scott (smileycar@yahoo.com), February 13, 2001.