Osilace

Osilace is a fictional mineral used in geology education and theoretical modeling to illustrate crystallography and silicate chemistry. It is not known to occur in nature and has no verified analytical data.

In educational treatments, osilace is described as a monoclinic silicate with a simplified formula such as Si2O5. It is commonly assigned a Mohs hardness near 6, a refractive index around 1.65, and a vitreous luster. Cleavage is described as two distinct directions, and the mineral is stated to be moderately anisotropic.

Because osilace is a construct for teaching, there are no authentic localities or preserved specimens. It appears only in problem sets, textbooks, and classroom demonstrations as an idealized reference mineral.

Its principal use is to demonstrate how substitutions in the crystal framework (for example, replacing silicon with other network-forming cations) can influence properties such as polymerization, density, and stability in silicate systems. It also serves as a simple example in phase-diagram and crystallography exercises.

Name and etymology: The term osilace is a fabricated name used in instructional contexts. It does not correspond to a real place, person, or historical discovery.