Open Adit™ - The Isometric (Cubic) System

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The three axes of the isometric crystals are of equal length and meet at right angles to one another. The system is also sometimes referred to as the cubic system. Although crystals falling under this system exhibit a great diversity of shapes, they usually have square or triangular faces.

All crystals of the isometric system possess four 3-fold axes of symmetry, each of which proceeds diagonally from corner to corner through the center of the cubic unit cell. Crystals of the isometric system may also demonstrate up to three separate 4-fold axes of rotational symmetry. These axes, if present, proceed from the center of each face through the origin to the center of the opposite face and correspond to the crystallographic axes. Furthermore crystals of the isometric system may possess six 2-fold axes of symmetry which extend from the center of each edge of the crystal through the origin to the center of the opposite edge. Minerals of this system may demonstrate up to nine different mirror planes.

Minerals of this system tend to produce crystals of equidimensional or equant habit. As a system containing about 12% of all minerals, it includes, halite, copper, pyrite, silver, diamond, magnetite, and garnet.


The three crystallographic axes are all equal in length and intersect at right angles (90°) to each other. 4 three-fold symmetry Commonly show faces that are squares, equilateral triangles

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