Sanidine

3D Model

The structure of sanidine showing its monoclinic character. Silicate and AlO4 tetrahedra (cyan) are bonded to each other in all three dimensions (tectosilicate or ‘framework’ silcate’) and a radomly arranged (compare with ordered structure of microcline). Potassium ions (purple) occupy the large ‘A’ site.

This model was uploaded via a vrml export from the freeware Vesta. Data for albite were downloaded from the American Mineralogist Crystal Structure Database.