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Magnetite is a ferrimagnetic mineral with chemical formula Fe3O4, one of several iron oxides and a member of the spinel group. The chemical IUPAC name is iron(II,III) oxide and the common chemical name is ferrous-ferric oxide.
The formula for magnetite may also be written as FeO·Fe2O3, which is one part wüstite (FeO) and one part hematite (Fe2O3). This refers to the different oxidation states of the iron in one structure, not a solid solution. The Curie temperature of magnetite is 858 K (585 °C; 1,085 °F). It is black or brownish-black with a metallic luster, has a Mohs hardness of 5–6 and a black streak. STARTUP1 IS
Magnetite has a so-called inverse spinel structure. The cubic unit cell corresponds to Fe24O32. Oxide ions are cubic closest packed, so there are 32 octahedral and 64 tetrahedral holes in the structure. There are three kinds of Fe present – Fe3+ in tetrahedral holes (1/8 of the tetrahedral holes filled); Fe3+ in octahedral holes (1/4 of the octahedral holes filled); and Fe2+ in octahedral holes (1/4 of the octahedral holes filled). ORIENTATION MAGNIFICATION IS 0.0001677540867150 XOFFSET IS 347 YOFFSET IS 252 XROTATE IS 0 YROTATE IS 0 ZROTATE IS 0 WIDTH IS 3200000 HEIGHT IS 2700000