Physical and Chemical

Properties of Minerals
ADRALES, CORAZON A.
Teacher II
 Objectives: 3
1. identify the characteristics of minerals;
2. explain the different physical properties of
minerals;
3. characterize the different chemical properties of
minerals:
4. discuss the Dana Classification System of minerals;
and
5. give examples of the different minerals.
 MINERALS. 3
 is a naturally occurring inorganic solid, with a definite chemical
composition, and an ordered atomic arrangement.
A mineral has a definite chemical composition.
All minerals have a characteristic crystal structure.
There are 2500 different kinds of minerals.
 Grouping Minerals
3
Minerals are grouped according to their chemical
composition
1. Silicates are the largest grouping.
o in order to be in the silicate group a mineral’s makeup must
include silicon and oxygen

Carbonates are the second largest grouping

2.

oin order to be in the carbonate group a mineral’s makeup

must include carbon and oxygen
 Grouping Minerals
3
Minerals are grouped according to their chemical
composition

3. Oxides are the third largest grouping.

o in order to be in carbonate group, a mineral’s make up must
include a metal and Oxygen
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. Physical Properties
1. Crystal Habit
orefers to the overall shape or growth pattern of the
mineral. It can be described as equant, elongate and platy
Equant. three dimensions
of the mineral have
about the same length,
like that
of a cube or sphere.
Fluorite Pyrite
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
Elongate. forms Platy. looks like a flattened
prismatic or prism-like
and thin crystal (like plate)
crystals that are thicker
than the needle oFoliation is produced in a rock by
as in a pencil. the parallel alignment of platy
minerals
Indicolite
Muscovite Chlorite
 Crystal examples
Pyrite

Fluorite

Peridot

Quartz
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. Physical Properties
2. Luster
o describes the appearance of a mineral when light is reflected from its
surface. It can be described as opaque, transparent, dull, or shiny.

Metallic luster . Non metallic luster .

is opaque and very reflective is dull, silky, greasy and
like gold and silver. pearly like silicates.
Silver

Gold
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. Physical Properties
3. Cleavage and Fracture
o refers to the tendency of
minerals to break along very
smooth, flat and shiny surfaces.
o A mineral fracture, if it breaks
along random,
irregular surfaces. Some
minerals break only by
fracturing, while others both
cleave and fracture.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. Physical Properties
4. Hardness
ois a measure of the mineral’s
resistance to scratching. Harder
minerals will scratch softer
minerals.
o Friedrich Mohs in 1812 ranked
minerals according to
hardness.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZUgWzRpA-4
Mohs Scale of Hardness
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. Physical Properties
5. Color
ois one of the most obvious properties of a
mineral but not reliable alone.
o Some minerals come in just one color,
while others come in many colors and
varieties.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. Physical Properties
6. Streak
o is refers to the color of the mineral in its powdered form, which may or may
not be the same color as the mineral.
o Streak is obtained by scratching the mineral
on an unpolished piece of white porcelain called a streak plate. When the excess
powder is blown away, what remains is the color of the streak. Streak is more
reliable property than color as streak shows the true color of minerals. It does not
vary even if color does
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. ADDITIONAL PROPERTIES
a. Magnetism
oare an important class of iron-bearing minerals that occur as
iron oxides (magnetite, maghemite, haematite),
oxyhydroxides (goethite, ferrihydrite, lepidocrocite), and
sulphides
b. Reaction with Acid
 Some minerals, especially carbonate minerals, react
visibly with acid.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. ADDITIONAL PROPERTIES
c. Striations
o are parallel lines on a mineral's cleavage surfaces that look like tiny
hairline grooves

d. Specific Gravity
 is the weight of that mineral divided by the weight of an
equal volume of water. The specific gravity of water equals 1.0, by
definition.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. ADDITIONAL PROPERTIES
e. Taste, Odor, Feel
oSome minerals have a distinctive taste .
oSome a distinctive odor (the powder of some sulfide minerals,
such as sphalerite, a zinc sulfide, smells like rotten eggs),
o some have a distinctive feel.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. ADDITIONAL PROPERTIES
e. Striations
o are parallel lines on a mineral's cleavage surfaces that look like tiny
hairline grooves

d. Specific Gravity
 is the weight of that mineral divided by the weight of an
equal volume of water. The specific gravity of water equals 1.0, by
definition.
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
3
A. ADDITIONAL PROPERTIES
c. Taste, odor or feel
o Some minerals have a distinctive taste (halite is salt, and
tastes like it).
o Some a distinctive odor (the powder of some sulfide minerals, such as
sphalerite, a zinc sulfide, smells like rotten eggs),
o some have a distinctive feel
(talc feels slippery)
B. Chemical Properties
3
Silicate Non Silicate
Most abundant group of
minerals containing Si, O  Contains either
with some Aluminum,
magnesium, iron and silicon or oxygen
calcium or neither
Considered to be the
most important of all  Not as abundant
mineral classes as silicate mineral.
DANA SYSTEM

1. Native elements, 5. sulfates

2. Silicates 6. halides
3. Oxides 7. carbonates
4. sulfides 8. phosphates, and mineraloids.
HOME-BASED ACTIVITY: Notebook
Search at least three (3) other examples of minerals based on Dana
Classification System. Present your answer in tabular form.

Classification of Minerals Example

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Submit it on Wednesday, September 21, 2022 at 9:05 AM

HOME-BASED ACTIVITY: Notebook 9-22-22

1. study and explain the characteristics of igneous,

sedimentary and metamorphic rocks;

2. explain the process of the formation of igneous,

sedimentary and metamorphic rocks; and

4. give examples of igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic

rocks.
Submit on Monday 9/26/22 11:20 AM
ASSIGNMENT: REVIEW

QUIZ ON FRIDAY
SEPTEMBER 23, 2022
Bring your filler.

REVIEW LESSON 1 AND 2

1. CHARACTERISTICS OF EARTH THAT ARE NECESSARY TO SUPPORT
LIFE
2. THE EARTH AND ITS SUBSYSTEM