Part of

An Earth Scientist's Periodic Table of the Elements and Their Ions

© 2003 L. Bruce Railsback, Department of Geology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 30602-2501 U.S.A. (rlsbk@gly.uga.edu). For updates and more information, see http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/PT.html.

Color of oxygen-bearing inorganic solids Typical colors of carbonates, nitrates, phosphates, silicates,
arsenates, tungstates, oxides etc. of the cation indicated
(e.g., minerals)
H+
Hydrogen ion
1
Hard Cations
(Cations with no outer-shell electrons) Typical colors of sodium-, magnesium-, potassium,
and calcium-bearing oxysalts of the cation indicated
Caveats:
4+ 1) Colors of specific samples of minerals are commonly controlled by minor or trace elements,
+
LiLithium 3 Be
2+ B 3+
5 C
4 as borate (B(OH) Carbon, as
Boron
6 N 5+ 7
ion Beryllium ion 3 Nitrogen as
carbonate (CO3 2-)
or are caused by vacancies of defects.
nitrate (NO3 -)
2) The colors shown here are generalizations among the mineral groups listed above
(i.e., a generalization of the color of the carbonate, nitrate, phosphate, etc. of a cation)
3. "White" and "colorless" are both shown as white on this table.
4+ 4+ 5+ 6+
+ 2+ 3+ Si 14 P 5+
15 S 16 6+
Intermediate Cations S Sulfur 16 As 33 Se 34
Na 11 Mg 12 Al 13 Phosphorus as
as silicate (SiO44–)
Sulfur as as sulfite (SO32–) arsenate (AsO4 3– )
as selenate (SeO4 2– )
Sodium ion Magnesium ion Aluminum ion as
Al3+ or Al(OH)n
phosphate (PO43–
and HPO42–)
sulfate (SO42–) (Cations with some remaining outer-shell electrons)
3+ 3,4+ 3+ 3+ 3+ Sn4+ Sb5+ 51
50 e.g., Te6+ 52
4+ CrChromic24 Mn 25 Fe 26 Co 27 Ni 28 Cu 29 2+ Stannic tin
3+ 23
VVanadium ion chromium Manganese ion Ferric iron Cobaltic cobalt Nickel ion Cupric copper
as antimonate e.g., as tellurate

+ 2+ 20 4+ 5+ 6+ Ti 22 2+
Sc 21 Ti 22 Vanadium ion Chromium,24
3+ 23
K 19 Ca V Cr Titanium ion
2+ Zn 30 Ga 3+
31 Ge4+ 32 3+
33 Se
4+
34
Potassium ion Calcium ion Scandium ion Titanic titanium e.g. as
3+ 2+
25 Fe 2+ 2+ 28 29+ As Selenium
Vanadous 23 27 Zinc ion
e.g., as vanadate chromate (CrO42–) 2+ V Mn Co Ni Cu
26 Cobaltous cobalt Nickel ion Cuprous copper
Gallium ion Germanium ion Arsenic e.g., as selenite

Ti 22 vanadium 2+ 24
CrChromous
Manganous Mn
Ferrous iron
e.g., as arsenite

chromium

5+ 2+ 1,3+ 3+ 4+ 5+
Rb+ 37 Sr
2+
38 Y3+ 39 Zr
4+
40 Nb 41 Mo 6+ 42
Molybdenum
Mo4+ 42 Ru 3,4+
44 Rh
2+
45 Pd2+
46 Ag +
47 Cd 48 In 49 Sn
2+
50 Sb 51 Te 52
Tellurium ion,
I Iodine
53
Niobium (or Molybdenum ion Palladium ion Cadmium ion Indium ion Antimony ion, as iodate (IO–3 )
Ruthenium ion Rhodium ion Silver ion Stannous tin as in antimonites as in tellurites
Rubidium ion Strontium ion Yttrium ion Zirconium ion Columbium) ion e.g., as molybdate

4+
W 74 4+ 4+ 2+ + +
81 Pb2+ 82 3+
Cs+ 55 Ba 56
2+ 3+
La & 57- Hf
4+
72 Ta
5+
73 W
6+
74 Re7+ 75 Tungsten (Wolfram)
ion
Re
4+
75 Os 76 Ir
Iridium ion
77 Pt 78 Au+ 79 Mercurous Tl
Hg 80 Thallous thallium Bi
Bismuth ion
83 Po 84
Rhenium ion Osmium ion Platinum ion ion Plumbous lead Polonium
Cesium ion Barium ion REEs 71 Hafnium ion Tantalum ion
e.g., as tantalate
Tungsten (Wolfram)
e.g., as tungstate
Rhenium ion
Gold ion

U
4+
92 Hg2+ 80 Tl 3+ 81 Pb4+ 82 Bi
5+ 83
Uranium ion
4+ Mercuric ion Thallic thalliumPlumbic lead Bismuth ion
Fr + 87 Ra
2+
88 Ac 3+ Th 90 5+
89 Thorium ion Protactinium
Pa 91 U
6+
92
Francium ion Actinium ion ion Uranium, e.g.
Radium ion
as uranyl (UO2 2+ )

Main observations:
1. Most minerals with color contain inter-
mediate cations.
4+ Rare earth elements (REEs) 2. Minerals of hard cations typically have no
Ce 58 3+
Cerium ion Eu 63
Europium ion
color, unless impurities or defects give them
3+ 3+ color.
Lantha- La 57 Pr 3+
59 3+ Sm 62
3+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 3+ 3+ Tm
3+
69 Yb
3+
70 Lu 71
nides: Lanthanum ion Ce
3+
58 Nd 60
Praseodymium ion Neodymium
Gd 64
Gadolinium ion
Tb 65 Dy 66 Ho 67 Er 68 Thulium ion
Ytterbium ion Lutetium ion
3. Exceptions to Observation 2 occur in hard
ion Samarium ion Terbium ion Dysprosium ion Erbium ion
Cerium ion Holmium ion
2+
Eu 63 cations of high (e.g. 6+) charge, probably
Europium ion because these cations have not truly lost all
their outer shell electrons.
Source: all data about color of solids are from Weast, R.C., 1985, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (Boca raton, CRC Press) 2362 p.