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There are thirty closed Isometric, or closed non-Isometric forms, and eighteen open crystal
forms. Closed crystal forms are those groupings of facets that are related by symmetry,
and completely enclosing a volume of space.
Open Forms
The eighteen open-forms are those facet groupings that are related by symmetry, but do
not completely enclose a volume of space. A crystal with open-form faces also requires
some additional closed-form facets to complete a structure. Open-forms include:
• Pedion
• Pinacoid
• Dome
• Sphenoid
• Pyramid
• Prism
A Pedion is a flat face that is not parallel, or geometrically linked to any other faces. A
Pinacoid is composed of only two parallel faces, forming tabular crystals such as ruby. A
Dome is found in monoclinic and orthorhombic minerals.
Two intersecting faces that are caused by mirroring (topaz) commonly forms domes.
Sphenoids are found in monoclinic and orthorhombic minerals, and have two-fold
rotational axes. A Pyramid's multiple facets converge on a single crystallographic axis, and
pyramid forms are not possible on minerals from the isometric, monoclinic or triclinic
systems.
A dodecahedron has 12 faces and there are four types of dodecahedrons listed in order of
descending symmetry: 1. Symmetrical pentagonal (five edged polygons) dodecahedrons,
2. Asymmetrical (tetartoid) pentagonal dodecahedrons, 3. Delta (four edged polygons)
dodecahedrons, and 4. Rhombic dodecahedrons. A Hexoctahedron is a multi-faceted
dodecahedron with 48 triangular faces.