Mighty Minerals Mineral

Characteristics

Minerals are all around us

Fascinating Fact

The elements oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium make up 99 percent of all minerals on Earth.

Fascinating FactBACKGROUND:

 Scientists have identified over 2000 different minerals in the earth's crust.95% of the earth's crust is composed of about a dozen different rock-forming minerals.

What is a mineral?All natural earth materials are made of minerals or a combination of minerals Minerals are the building blocks of rocks.To be called a mineral it must have the following 5 characteristics:

Mineral characteristic #1 –Naturally Occurring

Occurs naturally not artificial or man-made These are processes that occur on or inside Earth with no input from humans.

Mineral characteristic #2 Solid

All solids have a definite volume and shape.not a liquid or a gas

Platinum

(It might take two billion tons of ore to produce one pound of platinum!)

Mineral Characteristic #3Definite chemical composition

Made of one or more elements.

ElementSome minerals like gold or silver are made of only one element.A substance such as iron, oxygen, and gold which cannot be separated or broken down by ordinary chemical methods. All the elements are listed on the periodic table. For example: Gold = Au or Lead = Pb)

Compound: Other minerals are combinations of two or more elements which are chemically combined.For Example

Quartz = SiO2

Calcite = CaCO3

Image from http://www.minerals.net/mineral/carbonat/calcite/images/9salmon.htm

Image from http://skywalker.cochise.edu/wellerr/mingem/gemtp/smokyquartz/6xx-smoky-quartz6-rakhi.jpg

Image from http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/staticfiles/NGC/StaticFiles/Images/Show/38xx/382x/3822_history-of-gold-4_04700300.jpg

Image from http://periodictable.com/Samples/082.28/s12s.JPG

Mineral Characteristic #4Crystalline solids Atoms arranged in an

orderly pattern (Crystals)

Crystalline means that atoms are arranged in a pattern that is repeated over and over again.

For example, graphite’s atoms are arranged in layers and halite's are arranged in cubes.

The crystal system a mineral has can help a geologist identify the mineral.

Brain pop

There are six major crystal systems, which classify minerals according to their crystal structures.

Crystals come from two places:

Crystals from Magma

• When magma cools slowly, the crystals that form are generally large enough to see with the unaided eye.

• When magma cools rapidly, the crystals that form will be small.

Crystals from solutions

• Crystals also can form from minerals dissolved in water.

• When water evaporates, minerals left behind come together to form crystals.

Mineral characteristic #5 Inorganic

Not alive and never alive

• This means that they aren’t made by life processes.