Rocks And Minerals:

Rocks
-the solid mineral material forming part of the surface of the earth and other similar
planets, exposed on the surface or underlying the soil or oceans.
-a large piece of rock that has become detached from a cliff or mountain; a boulder.
Information about rocks:
There are three basic types of rock: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
Extremely common in the Earth's crust, igneous rocks are volcanic and form from
molten material. They include not only lava spewed from volcanoes, but also rocks like
granite, which are formed by magma that solidifies far underground.
Igneous rock (derived from the Latin word ignis meaning fire) is one of the three
main rock types, the others being sedimentary and metamorphic. Igneous rock is
formed through the cooling and solidification of magma or lava.
Sedimentary rocks are often deposited in layers, and frequently contain fossils. Note :
Limestone and shale are common sedimentary rocks.
Metamorphic Rock that was once one form of rock but has changed to another under
the influence of heat, pressure, or some other agent without passing through a liquid
phase. Note : Examples are marble, which can be formed from limestone, and slate,
which is formed from shale.
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Mineral
-a substance (such as quartz, coal, petroleum, salt, etc.) that is naturally formed
under the ground.
-A mineral is a homogeneous naturally occurring substance with a definite but not
necessarily fixed chemical composition. Most minerals are solids with an ordered
atomic arrangement, and most are inorganic in the chemical sense of that word
Properties of Minerals
Minerals are classified by their chemical composition and crystal structure.
The seven physical properties of minerals are:
1. Crystal form is the outward expression of the orderly arrangement of atoms inside
the mineral.
2.Hardness is how resistant a mineral is to scratching, not how easily it breaks.
Hardness depends on the bonds within the mineral, so the stronger the bonds, the
harder the mineral.
3.Cleavage/fracture - The tendency of a mineral to break along flat planar surfaces as
determined by the structure of its crystal lattice.
4.Luster-The shine from the surface of a mineral. Luster is important in describing
different kinds of minerals. It is usually characterized as metallic, glassy, pearly, or dull.
5. Color- is the most eye-catching feature of many minerals. Some minerals will always
have a similar color, such as Gold, whereas some minerals, such
as Quartz and Calcite, come in all colors.
6.Streak (also called "powder color") of a mineral is the color of the powder produced
when it is dragged across an un-weathered surface.
7. Density- is a measure of the mass of a certain volume of the sample. Specific gravity
is a unit less measure, and it is the ratio of the mass of a substance to the mass of an
equal volume of water.
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