EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE

Grade Level: Grade 11

SLG No. 2
Subject Code/Number: Core 04
Subject Description: This learning area is designed to provide a general background understanding of
the Earth on a planetary scale. It presents the history of the Earth through geologic time. It discusses the
Earth’s structure and composition, the processes that occur beneath and on the Earth’s surface, as well
as issues, concerns, and problems pertaining to Earth’s surface.
Time Frame: 2 Weeks

Rock-Forming Minerals

How is mineral different from a rock?

Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. They have been used for basic necessities and for
decorative purposes since prehistoric times. These minerals that are common and abundant on Earth’s
crust are known as rock-forming minerals.
The use of the term “mineral” is not exclusive to geology. It is also used in health sciences as
substance that is beneficial to the body. In the mining industry, any substance that has been extracted
from a mine is also called mineral. For geologist, a mineral is a naturally-occurring, inorganic solid that
exhibits a crystalline structure and can be represented by a chemical formula.

A. Mineral Properties

1. Luster – it is the quality and intensity of reflected light exhibited by the mineral a. Metallic – generally
opaque and exhibit a resplendent shine similar to a polished metal b. Non-metallic – vitreous (glassy),
adamantine (brilliant/diamond-like), resinous, silky, pearly, dull (earthy), greasy, etc.

2. Hardness – it is a measure of the resistance of a mineral (not specifically surface) to abrasion.

a. Introduce students to the use of a hardness scale designed by German geologist/mineralogist

Friedrich Mohs in 1812 (Mohs Scale of Hardness). The test compares the resistance of a mineral
relative to the 10 reference minerals with known hardness. It is simply determining the hardness
of a mineral by scratching them with common objects of known hardness (e.g. copper coin -3.0-
3.5).
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
Grade Level: Grade 11

Moh’s scale of Hardness

b. What are the pros and cons in using the Mohs scale of hardness?

PROS CONS

Easy to do the test The scale is qualitative and not quantitative

Can be done anywhere, anytime as long as the Cannot be used to test accurate hardness of
place is not dark industrial materials

Mohs scale is highly relevant for field

geologists to roughly identify minerals using
scratch kits

Can be done without or few kits – handy

EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
Grade Level: Grade 11

3. Color and streak – Color maybe a unique identifying property of certain minerals (e.g. malachite –
green, azurite – blue). There are also lots of minerals that share similar or the same color/s. In addition,
some minerals can exhibit a range of colors. The mineral quartz for example, can be pink (rose quartz),
purple (amethyst), orange (citrine), white (colorless quartz) etc. Streak on the other hand is the color of
a mineral in powdered form. Note that the color of a mineral could be different from the streak. For
example, pyrite (FeS2) exhibits golden color (hence the other term of pyrite which is Fool’s Gold) but has
a black or dark gray streak. Streak is a better diagnostic property as compared to color. Streak is
inherent to almost every mineral. Color maybe unreliable for identification as impurities within the
minerals may give the minerals a different color.

4. Crystal Form/Habit –The external shape of a crystal or groups of crystals is displayed / observed as
these crystals grow in open spaces. The form reflects the supposedly internal structure (of atoms and
ions) of the crystal (mineral). It is the natural shape of the mineral before the development of any
cleavage or fracture. Examples include prismatic, tabular, bladed, platy, reniform and equant. A mineral
that do not have a crystal structure is described as amorphous. The crystal form also define the relative
growth of the crystal in 3 dimension which are its length, width and height

5. Cleavage – It is the property of some minerals to break along parallel repetitive planes of weakness to
form smooth, flat surfaces. These planes of weakness are inherent in the bonding of atoms that makes
up the mineral. These planes of weakness are parallel to the atomic planes and appear to be repeating
within the mineral. When minerals break evenly in more than one direction, cleavage is described by the
number of cleavage directions and the angle(s) between planes (e.g. cleavage in 2 directions at 90
degrees to each other).

Mineral cleavage. Left photo shows one cleavage direction (biotite). Middle photo has cleavage
in 2 directions at 90° (orthoclase). Right photo has 3 cleavage directions at 74° (calcite)
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
Grade Level: Grade 11

It is important to clearly differentiate a crystal habit from cleavage. Although both are dictated
by crystal structure, crystal habit forms as the mineral is growing, therefore relies on how the individual
atoms in the crystal come together. Cleavage on the other hand is the weak plane that developed after
the crystal is formed.

6. Fracture – Some minerals may not have cleavages but exhibit broken surfaces that are irregular and
non-planar. Quartz for example has an inherent weakness in the crystal structure that is not planar.
Examples of fracture are conchoidal, fibrous, hackly, and uneven among others.

7. Specific Gravity – It is the ratio of the weight of a mineral to the weight of an equal volume of water.
A bucket of silver (SG 10) would weigh 10 times more than a bucket of water (SG 1). It is a measure to
express the density (mass per unit volume) of a mineral. The specific gravity of a mineral is numerically
equal to density.

8. Others – There are certain unique properties of minerals that actually help in their identification (e.g.
magnetism, odor, taste, tenacity, reaction to acid, etc.). Magnetite is strongly magnetic; sulfur has
distinctive smell; halite is salty; calcite fizzes with acid as with dolomite but in powdered form.

Mineral Name Halite (table salt)

Chemical Composition NaCl

Luster non-metallic – vitreous; transparent to

translucent

Hardness soft (2-2.5

Color white

Streak White

Crystal Form / Habit cubic

Cleavage perfect cubic

Specific Gravity light (2.2)

Other Properties salty taste; very soluble; produces reddish

spark in flame

B. Mineral Groups
EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE
Grade Level: Grade 11

A more stable and less ambiguous basis for classification of minerals is by chemical composition.

Element Element Element Element Element Element Element

+ + + + + +

SiO4 O2 SO4 S2 CO3 Halogens

Native Silicate Oxide Sulfate Carbonate Halide

Gold Quartz Hematite Gypsum Pyrite Calcite Chlorine

Bismuth Olivine Magnetite Barite Galena Dolomite Fluorine

Diamond Talc Chromite Anhydrite Bornite Malachite Halite

1. Silicates – minerals containing 2 of the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust, namely,
silicon and oxygen. When linked together, these two elements form the silicon oxygen
tetrahedron - the fundamental building block of silicate minerals. Over 90% of the rock-forming
minerals belong to this group. Aside from Si (46.6 % by wt.) and O (27.7%), the other most
common elements that make the earth’s crust are Al (8.1), Fe (5.0), Ca (3.6), Mg (3.1), Na (2.8)
and K 2.6).
2. Oxides – minerals containing Oxygen anion (O2 - ) combined with one or more metal ions
3. Sulfates – minerals containing Sulfur and Oxygen anion (SO4) - combined with other ions
4. Sulfides – minerals containing sulfur anion (S2) - combined with one or more ions. Some sulfides
are sources of economically important metals such as copper, lead and zinc.
5. Carbonates – minerals containing the carbonate anion (CO3) 2- combined with other elements
6. Native Elements – minerals that form as individual elements.
a. Metals and Inter-metals – minerals with high thermal and electrical conductivity,
typically with metallic luster, low hardness (gold, lead)
b. Semi-metals – minerals that are more fragile than metals and have lower conductivity
(arsenic, bismuth)
c. Nonmetals – nonconductive (sulfur, diamond) 7. Halides – minerals containing halogen
elements combined with one or more elements