Bischofite

Bischofite^[1]^[2]

Mineralogical name	Bischofite
Chemical name	Magnesium chloride hexahydrate
Trivial name
Chemical formula	MgCl₂•6H₂O
Other forms
Crystal system	monoclinic
Crystal structure
Deliquescence humidity 20°C	33.1%
Solubility (g/l) at 20°C	543 g/l
Density (g/cm³)	1.57 g/cm³
Molar volume	129.6 cm³/mol
Molar weight	203.30 g/mol
Transparency	transparent to translucent
Cleavage	none
Crystal habit
Twinning
Phase transition
Chemical behavior
Comments	decomposes at 116-118°C hygroscopic and deliquescent
Crystal Optics
Refractive Indices	n_x =1.495 n_y = 1.509 n_z = 1.528
Birefringence	Δ = 0.003
Optical Orientation	positive
Pleochroism
Dispersion	79°
Used Literature
[Broul.etal:1981]Title: Solubility in organic two component systems Author: Broul M., Nyvlt J.; Soehnel O. [Dana:1951]Title: Dana's System of Mineralogy Author: Dana J.D.

Hygroscopicity[edit]

Table 1: Deliquescence humidities of bischofite at different temperatures [Steiger.etal:2014]**Title:** *Weathering and Deterioration*
**Author:** *Steiger, Michael; Charola A. Elena; Sterflinger, Katja*
0°C	10°C	20°C	30°C	40°C	50°C
34.1%r.h.	33.7%r.h.	33.1%r.h.	32.4%r.h.	31.5%r.h.	30.5%r.h.

[Broul.etal:1981]	Elsevier (eds.) Broul M., Nyvlt J.; Soehnel O. (1981): Solubility in organic two component systems, Elsevier
[Dana:1951]	Dana E.S. (eds.) Dana J.D. (1951): Dana's System of Mineralogy, 7, Wiley & Sons
[Steiger.etal:2011a]	Steiger, Michael; Linnow, Kirsten; Ehrhardt, Dorothee; Rohde, Mandy (2011): Decomposition reactions of magnesium sulfate hydrates and phase equilibria in the MgSO4-H2O and Na+-Mg2+-Cl--SO42--H2O systems with implications for Mars. In: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Act, 75 (12), 3600-3626, 10.1016/j.gca.2011.03.038,
[Steiger.etal:2014]	Steiger, Michael; Charola A. Elena; Sterflinger, Katja (2014): Weathering and Deterioration. In: Siegesmund S.; Snethlage R. (eds.): Stone in Architecture, Springer Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 223-316, 10.1007/978-3-642-45155-3_4.