Apatite is the name given to a group of phosphate minerals, usually referring to hydroxylapatite (or hydroxyapatite), fluoroapatite (or fluorapatite), and chloroapatite (or chlorapatite).They are named for the presence of hydroxide (OH-), fluoride (F-), and chloride (Cl-) ions, respectively, in the crystal lattice. These three forms of apatite are not readily …