Rock – Forming Minerals

Minerals make up the rocks beneath your feet, the soil

that supports plants, and the deep rock of Earth’s
mantle. Any thorough study of Earth must include an
understanding of minerals. But it is not sufficient to
study minerals isolated from the rest of the planet.
Rather we can learn more by observing the ways that
minerals interact with other Earth systems.
 Minerals are naturally occurring, (not man-made or machine-generated)
inorganic, (not a byproduct of living things) solid with an orderly crystalline
structure and a definite chemical composition. Minerals are the basic
building blocks of rocks.
A. Physical Properties
• Color – The color of a mineral depends on the elements which constitute the crystal lattice
– the arrangement of atoms, or groups of atoms, in a specific pattern and with high
symmetry. The reflection of certain wavelengths of light by the crystal lattice results
in the color perceived by the observer.
• Streak – refers to the color of the mineral in its powdered form
• Luster – refers to the relative differences in the opacity and transparency of a mineral as light
is reflected on its surface. This describes the “sparkles” of the mineral surfaces.
• Specific gravity – refers to the ratio of the weight of the mineral of the water with an equal
volume. This parameter indicates how many times more the mineral weighs compared to an
equal amount of water
A. Physical Properties

• Hardness – refers to the measure of the resistance of a surface to

abrasions or scratches. It is generally measured using the Mohs Scale of
Hardness.
• Cleavage – refers to the tendency of the mineral to be split or broken along
flat surfaces
• Fracture – refers to the texture or shape of the mineral’s surface when the
mineral breaks into forms other than flat surfaces
• Tenacity – refers to the behavior of the mineral under deformation or stress
such as cutting, crushing, bending, or hitting.
• Crystal habit – refers to the growth crystal pattern of a mineral as single or
aggregated
 
B. Chemical Properties

• Solubility – refers to the ability of a substance to dissolve in a solvent at

a specified temperature.
• Melting point – refers to the temperature at which solid turns into liquid.
Minerals composed of atoms that are tightly bonded within the crystal
structure have high melting points
 
Although there are thousands of mineral, only very few groups are
involved in rock-formation. Major rock-forming minerals are feldspar,
quartz, micas, pyroxene, olivine, calcite and dolomite.
Pyrite exhibits gold color but has Mica crystal can be peel like layers of onion
a black or dark gray streak.
Also known as fool’s gold.

Quartz creates
smooth, curved
surfaces
Diamond has a scale of
10 in the Mohs Scale of
Hardness

Feldspar mostly
found in igneous
rocks
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