Abstract
The crystal structure of synthetic magnesite has been studied by X-ray method. Magnesite is trigonal R3c, with a=4.637$\AA$, c=15.023$\AA$ and Z=6. Intensity data were collected with a Rigaku automated four-circle diffractometer and Mo-K$\alpha$ radiation. The structure was refined by the full-matrix least squares method using anisotropic thermal parameters. The final R index for 234 reflections is 0.037. The C-O and Mg-O bond lengths were 1.283 and 2.105$\AA$, respectively. The interatomic angles of three kinds of O-Mg-O were 88.25, 91.75 and 180.00$^{\circ}$, respectively. It is clarified that the distortion of the Mg-O6 octahedron in magnesite is smaller than that of Ca-O6 in calcite.