What is a Mineral?

What is a mineral?
• Solid

• Not liquid, gas, or plasma

 What is a mineral?
• Naturally-occurring

• Not man-made
 What is a mineral?
• Inorganic

• Never alive
 What is a mineral?
• Definite chemical composition: an element
or a compound
 Examples of minerals

Halite
(rock salt)

Mica
Quartz
Not minerals
 Important Mineral Facts…
• There are more than 2,000 kinds of
minerals,
• Fewer than 20 are common minerals that
form rock
• 10 minerals make up 90% of the earth’s
crust
– Ex. Quartz, feldspar, mica, calcite
 Minerals fall in 2 groups:
• Silicates: silicon and oxygen
– Quartz: SiO2
– Feldspar: KAlSi3O8
– Most abundant group of minerals in
earth’s crust

* They make up 96% of the Earth’s crust

Silicon-Oxygen Tetrahedron
Non Silicates: Not silicate
(6 groups)
 Non Silicate: Native Minerals
• Made up of single
elements
• Ex- Gold (Au)

Copper Silver Sulfur

 Non Silicate: Halides
• K, Na, or Ca cation combined with Cl or F
anion.
• Ex- Halite (NaCl)
 Non Silicate: Sulfides
• Contains S atom
• Ex- Pyrite (FeS2)
 Non Silicate: Carbonates
• Contains CO3
• Ex- Calcite (CaCO3)
 Non Silicate: Sulfates
Chalcanthite

• Contains SO4
• Ex- Gypsum(CaSO4)
 Non Silicate: Oxides
• Contains O except for Silicates, Sulfates,
Carbonates
• Ex- Hematite (Fe2O3)
• Classify the following as silicates or non-
silicates. If it is non, name the group.
• 1. ZnS
• 2. CuCO3
• 3. KAlSi3O10
• 4. MnO2
• 5. C
• 6. Na3AlF6
• 7. PbCu(SO4)(OH)2
 Gypsum Caves
• Largest Crystals in the World are found in
Northern Mexico in the Cave of Crystals

Cave of Crystals Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=HeiMfLmJtzk
 Properties of Minerals:
How We Identify Minerals
Luster = ability to reflect light

Metallic: Non-metallic:
Looks like Does not shine
metal like metal
 Non-metallic types

Transparent Translucent

Opaque
 Color

Light Dark
Color is NOT a good way to identify a
mineral

Quartz Feldspar
 Streak
• Color when
rubbed on a tile
• May be
different than
the color of the
mineral
• Ability to scratch Hardness
other minerals
• Moh’s Scale
 Diamonds
How Diamonds are Cut Video
 How a Mineral Breaks
• 2 types:

–Cleavage: splits along flat planes

–Fracture: breaks unevenly

Cleavage
Fracture

Breaks along
uneven lines
Special Properties
 Magnetism
When passed through sand or loose soil it may attract
small particles of iron

EX. Magnetite
 Fluorescence
The ability of mineral to glow under ultraviolet light

Ex. Calcite, Willemite

 Phosphorescence
Ability of a mineral to continue to glow after a ultraviolet light is
cut off
EX. Celestite and Fluorite
 Double Refraction
Certain transparent minerals can split light into two parts
creating a double image
EX. Calcite
 Radioactivity

Minerals with an unstable nuclei that release

particles and energy
Ex. Uranium and Radium