ROCKS

FORMING
MINERALS
USING THEIR
PHYSICAL AND
CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES
 OBJECTIVES:
1.) IDENTIFY COMMON ROCK
FORMING MINERALS USING THEIR
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES.
S11/12ES-Ia-9
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
1.) I CAN IDEMTIFY THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
OF MINERALS

2.) I CAN IDENTIFY THE CHEMICAL PROPERTIES

OF MINERALS

3.) I CAN IDENTIFY SOME MINERALS AND THEIR

USES.
 Rocks are composed of minerals.There are
almost 5000 known mineral species, yet the
vast majority of rocks are formed from
combinations of a few common minerals,
referred to as “rock-forming minerals”. The
rock-forming minerals are: feldspars, quartz,
amphiboles, micas, pyroxenes.
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF
1. COLOR MINERALS:
2. STREAK
3. HARDNESS
4. CLEAVAGE AND FRACTURE
5. CRYSTALLINE STRUCTURE
6. TRANSPARENCY
7. MAGNETISM
8. TENACITY
9. LUSTER
10.ODOR SPECIFIC GRAVITY
1.)COLOR – USED TO IDENTIFY
MINERALS EASILY. IT IS THE RESULT
OF THE WAY MINERALS ABSORB
LIGHT.
2.)STREAK – IS THE
COLOR OF THE
MINERALS IN POWDER
FORM.

3.) HARDNESS-
MEASURE OF THE
MINERALS RESISTANCE
TO SCRATCHING.
4.) CLEAVAGE AND
FRACTURES- USED TO
DESCRIBE HOW
MINERALS BREAK
INTO PIECES.

5.)CRYSTALLINE
STRUCTURE- TELLS
HOW A MINERAL’S
CRYSTALS ARE
ARRANGE.
6.) TRANSPARENY-
Diaphaneity is a mineral’s
degree of transparency or
ability to allow light to pass
through it. The degree of
transparency may also
depend on the thickness of
the mineral.

7.)TENACITY-Tenacity is the
characteristic that describes
how the particles of a mineral
hold together or resist
separation
8.) MAGNETISM-Magnetism is the characteristic that
allows a mineral to attract or repel other magnetic
materials

9.)LUSTER - Luster is the property of minerals that

indicates how much the surface of a mineral reflects

10.)ODOR-Most minerals have no odor unless they

are acted upon in one of the following ways:
moistened, heated, breathed upon, or rubbed.

11.)SPECIFIC GRAVITY-Specific Gravity of a mineral

is a comparison or ratio of the weight of the mineral to
the weight of an equal amount of water.
 CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF
MINERALS:
1. SILICATE CLASS
2. CARBONATE CLASS
3. SULPHATE CLASS
4. HALIDE CLASS
5. OXIDE CLASS
6. SULPHIDE CLASS
7. PHOSPHATE CLASS
8. NATIVE ELEMNT CLASS
1.)SILICATE CLASS- LARGEST AND MOST
ABUNDANT GROUP.

2.)CARBONATE CLASS- MOSTLY FOUND IN

MARINE ENVIRONMENTS.

3.)SULPHATE CLASS- FORMS WITH AREAS

WITH HIGH EVAPORATION RATES.

4.)HALIDE CLASS- CONTAINS NATURAL

SALTS LIKE FLOURITE,HARITEE,SYLVITE AND
SAL AMMONIAC COMPONENTS.
5.)OXIDE CLASS- . he Oxide Class of minerals is
a rather diverse class. It includes minerals that
are quite hard (corundum) and some that are
quite soft such as psilomelane

6.) SULPHIDE CLASS- The Sulfide

Class minerals comprise an economically
important class of minerals. Most major ores of
important metals such as copper, lead and silver
are sulfides. Strong generalities exist in this class

7.)PHOSPHATE LASS –CONTAINS MINERALS

WITH PHOSPHORUS.CONSIDERED AS
IMPORTANT BIOLOGICAL MINERAL FOUND
IN TEETH AND BONES IN MANY ANIMALS.
8.) NATIVE ELEMENT CLASS –
CONTAINS METALS, INTERMETALLI
METALS, SEMI METALS,
NONMETALS OR NATURAL
ALLOYSAND CONSTITUENTS OF A
FEW RARE METEORITES.
AFTER THIS
• Hardness is a measure of how resistant a mineral is
to scratching. This physical property is controlled by
the chemical composition and structure of the
mineral. Hardness is commonly measured on the
Mohs scale. This is defined by ten minerals, where
each mineral can scratch those with a lower scale
number. Diamond (hardness 10) can scratch
everything below it on the Mohs scale, but cannot
itself be scratched, whereas quartz (hardness 5)
can scratch calcite (hardness 3) but not corundum
(hardness 9).