Properties
| Category | Inosilicate minerals (single chain) |
|---|---|
| Formula | MgCaSi2O6 |
| Crystal system | Monoclinic |
| Color | Commonly light to dark green; may be blue, brown, colorless, white to snow white, grey, pale violet |
| Crystal habit | Short prismatic crystals common, may be granular, columnar, massive |
| Cleavage | Distinct/good on {110} |
| Fracture | Irregular/uneven, conchoidal |
| Tenacity | Brittle |
| Mohs scale hardness | 5.5–6.5 |
| Luster | Vitreous to dull |
| Streak | white |
| Specific gravity | 3.278 |
From the Wikipedia article
Diopside is a monoclinic pyroxene mineral with composition MgCaSi2O6. It forms complete solid solution series with hedenbergite and augite, and partial solid solutions with orthopyroxene and pigeonite. It forms variably colored, but typically dull green crystals in the monoclinic prismatic class. It has two distinct prismatic cleavages at 87 and 93° typical of the pyroxene series. It has a Mohs hardness of six, a Vickers hardness of 7.7 GPa at a load of 0.98 N, and a specific gravity of 3.25 to 3.55. It is transparent to translucent with indices of refraction of nα=1.663–1.699, nβ=1.671–1.705, and nγ=1.693–1.728. The optic angle is 58° to 63°.
Source
Source record: crystal-compendium/diopside/minerals.json. Fetched from English Wikipedia by the operator 2 October 2026.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diopside — revision id 1374494890. Text and properties from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.