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Iceland spar

Iceland spar, colorless variety of crystallized calcite, characterized by its properties of transparency and double refraction. It is used chiefly in the manufacture of Nicol prisms, which are essential parts of polarizing microscopes and other optical instruments. The principal deposit is in Iceland, but small quantities are found in other countries, including the United States and Mexico.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

More on Iceland spar from Infoplease:

Iceland spar: meaning and definitions - Iceland spar: Definition and Pronunciation
Suggestions for spelling of encyclopedia/iceland spar - The Infoplease spelling checker combines spelling help with our dictionary and thesaurus
spar - spar. spar. For dogtooth spar, see calcite; for fluorspar, see fluorite; for heavy spar, see ...
calcium carbonate - calcium carbonate calcium carbonate, CaCO3, white chemical compound that is the most common ...
Nicol prism - Nicol prism Nicol prism , optical device invented (1828) by William Nicol of Edinburgh. It consists ...

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Mineralogy and Crystallography

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