Minerals II: Physical Properties and Crystal Forms

From: http://webmineral.com/data/Rhodochrosite.shtml

The Physical Properties of Minerals

• Color• Streak• Luster• Hardness• External Crystal Form• Cleavage

The Physical Properties of Minerals (cont.)

• Fracture• Specific Gravity• Special Properties• Other Properties• Chemical Tests

Physical properties of minerals

• Based on the principles discussed during the last lecture and above, we now know that minerals are composed of atoms, arranged in a specific order, with a well defined chemical composition. We might expect then that the microscopic variations in bond environment discussed above, will also be manifested in macroscopic physical and chemical properties. This is indeed the case.

Important Physical Properties I

• Luster - This property describes the appearance of reflected light from the mineral's surface. Nonmetallic minerals are described using the following terms: vitreous, pearly, silky, resinous, and earthy.

Important Physical Properties II

• Color - Although an obvious feature, it is often unreliable to use to determine the type of mineral.

– Color arises due to electronic transitions, often of trace

constituents, in the visible range of the EM spectrum. For example, quartz is found in a variety of colors.

• Color of a mineral may be quite diagnostic for the

trace element and coordination number of its bonding environment.

Hope Diamond: 44.5 carats

http://www.nmnh.si.edu/minsci/hope.htm

Important Physical Properties III

• Streak - The color of a mineral in its powdered form; obtained by rubbing the mineral against an unglazed porcelain plate. – Streak is usually less variable than color.

– Useful for distinguishing between minerals with metallic luster.

Density and Specific Gravity

• Density - Defined as the mass divided by the volume and normally designated by the Greek letter, rho, – mass/volume; SI units: kg/m3 or kg m-3, but

geologists often use g/cm3 as the unit of choice.• Specific Gravity - Ratio of the mass of a

substance to the mass of an equal volume of water. Note that water = 1 g cm-3. S.G. is unitless.

• Examples - quartz (SiO2) has a S.G. of 2.65 while galena (PbS) has a S.G. of 7.5 and gold (Au) has a S.G. of 19.3.

Color and Density• Two broad categories are ferromagnesian and nonferromagnesian

silicates, which simply means iron and magnesian bearing or not. The presence or absence of Fe and Mg strongly affects the external appearance (color) and density of the minerals.

• Ferromagnesian silicates - dark color, density range from 3.2 - 3.6 g/cc– Olivine - high T, low silica rocks; comprises over 50% of upper mantle– Pyroxenes - high T, low silica rocks– Amphiboles - esp. hornblende; moderate T, higher silica rocks– Mica - esp. biotite; moderate T, higher silica rocks– Garnet - common metamorphic mineral

• Nonferromagnesian silicates - light color, density close to 2.7 g/cc– Mica - exp. muscovite; moderate T, higher silica rocks– Feldspars - plagioclase and orthoclase; most common mineral in crust;

form over a wide range of temperatures and melt compositions– Quartz - low T, high silica rocks; extremely stable at surface, hence it

tends to be a major component in sedimentary rocks.– Clay - esp. kaolinite; different types found in different soils

Crustal Minerals

From http://www.geo.wvu.edu/~lang/Geol284/Min8IgFels

More Zoning

Zoning in Plagioclase Feldspar

Ca-rich core

Na-rich rim

Important Physical Properties IV

• Crystal form or habit - The external morphology of crystals generally reflect the internal arrangement of their constituent atoms. This can be obscured, however, if the mineral crystallized in an environment that did not allow it to grow without significant interaction with other crystals (even of the same mineral).

Chrysotile Asbestos

Belongs to the Serpentine mineral family - hydrated ferromagnesian silicate.

Crystal Forms: Quartz

Feldspar

Intergrown cubic crystals of fluorite

Quartz Interfacial Angles

PerfectlyProportionedCrystals

MisshapenCrystals

Steno’s Law (1669): Crystal face internal angles remain constant!

Macroscopic Forms and Microscopic Blocks

Cubes

Rhombs

MacroscopicCrystal Forms

Unit Cells and Crystal StructureCubic unit cell:smallest repeatable unit

Important Physical Properties V

• Hardness - This is the resistance of the mineral to abrasion or scratching. This property doesn't vary greatly from sample to sample of the same mineral, and thus is highly diagnostic. It also is a direct reflection of the bonding type and internal atomic arrangement. A value is obtained by comparing the mineral to a standard scale devised by Moh, which is comprised of 10 minerals ranging in hardness from talc (softest) to diamond (hardest).

Mohs’ Hardness Scale

Polymorphism and polymorphs

• Substances having the same chemical composition but different crystal structures.

– e.g. diamond and graphite

• Both minerals are composed of pure carbon, but diamond is the high pressure polymorph of graphite.

• This gives rise to extremely different physical properties.

Polymorphism

Graphite & CalciteNatural Octahedral Diamond

3 mm

From: http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~jaszczak/diamond.html

Diamond vs. Graphite Crystal Structures

From: http://www.molecules.org/elements.html#diamond

Hardness: 10 Hardness: 1-2

Fingernail Hardness (2.5) Scratches Gypsum (2)

Important Physical Properties VI

• Cleavage - Orientation and number of planes of weakness within a mineral. Directly reflects the orientation of weak bonds within the crystal structure. This feature is also highly diagnostic.

• Fracture - This describes how a mineral breaks if it is not along well defined planes. In minerals with low symmetry and highly interconnected atomic networks, irregular fracture is common.

Planer Cleavage in Mica

Weak Bonding Yields Planer Cleavage

Amphibole Cleavage ~120/60°

Rhombohedral Cleavage in Calcite

Conchoidal Fracture in Glass

Special and Other Properties• Striations - Commonly found on plagioclase

feldspar. Straight, parallel lines on one or more of the cleavage planes caused by mineral twinning.

• Magnetism - Property of a substance such that it will spontaneous orient itself within a magnetic field. Magnetite (Fe3O4) has this property and it can be used to distinguish it from other non-magnetite iron oxides, such as hematite (Fe2O3).

• Double Refraction - Seen in calcite crystals. Light is split or refracted into two components giving rise to two distinct images.

Plagioclase striations

Calcite Double Refraction

X-ray diffraction: Laue photographic method

Bragg Relationship

From: http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~g203/xray.htm

Laue X-ray photograph of Vesuvianite

From: http://www.geology.fau.edu/course_info/fall02/gly4200/X-RAY.htm

Vesuvianite: Contact Metamorphic Mineral

Formula:Ca10(Mg,Fe)2Al4Si9O34(OH)4

System: TetragonalHardness: 61⁄2

http://www.mindat.org/min-4223.html