Understanding Minerals: Formation, Characteristics, and Uses

1. Chapter 4: Section1What Are Minerals? • Minerals – a naturally occurring, inorganicsolid that has a crystalstructure and a definite chemicalcomposition

2. What 5 Characteristics Does a Mineral Have to Have? A mineral must be: • Naturally Occurring • Inorganic • Solid • Crystal Structure • Definite Chemical Composition

3. What Does It Mean to Be Naturally Occurring? • A mineral must occurnaturally • Cement, brick, steel, and glass all come from substances found in Earth’s crust but they are manufactured by people

4. How Can Something Be Inorganic? • Inorganic – the mineral cannot arise from materials that were once part of a living thing • Ex. Coal is NOT a mineral because it is made up the remains of plants and animals

5. What kind of pattern must a mineral have? • A mineral must have a crystal structure – a repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles that forms a solid. • Faces – a crystal’s flat side that meets at sharp edges and corners

6. What kind of composition must a mineral have? • A mineral must have a definite chemical composition – it always contains certain elements in definite proportions; most minerals are compounds Cinnabar – composed of the elements Mercury and Sulfur

7. What Is the Difference Between an Element and a Compound? • Element – a substance composed of asinglekind ofatom. Ex. Hydrogen • Compound –Twoor moreelementscombinedso that the elements no longer have distinctproperties Ex. Water H20

8. How Do You Identify Minerals? • Properties: • Density • Crystal Shape • Cleavage and Fracture • Special Properties • Hardness • Color (this can vary) • Streak • Luster

9. How Do You Determine a Mineral’s Hardness? • Friedrich Mohs invented a test to describe and compare the hardness of minerals • Mohs Hardness Scale • Ranks ten minerals from softest to hardest

10. How Does the Mohs Scale Work? • Gypsum (2) will scratch talc (1), calcite (3) will scratch gypsum (2), fluorite (4) will scratch calcite (3), etc.

11. What Is a Streak Test? • The streak of a mineral is the color of its powder • The streak color and the mineral color are often different • To test: rub a mineral against an unglazed tile (streak plate)

12. What is the Luster of a mineral? • Luster – used to describe how a mineralreflectslightfrom itssurface • Minerals containing metals are oftenshiny • Earthy, waxy, and pearly

13. What does Density have to do with Minerals? • Each mineral has a characteristicDensity • Density – or mass per unit volume; Density = mass/volume • Displacement – the volume of the displaced water equals the volume of the the sample

14. What Kind of Shape does a Mineral have? • Minerals have a crystal structure • Cubic • Hexagonal • Tetragonal • Orthorhombic • Monoclinic • Triclinic

15. What is Mineral Cleavage? • Cleavage – A mineral’s ability to split easily along a flatsurface • The ability to break apart depends on the arrangement of the atoms in the mineral Cubic Cleavage Basal Cleavage

16. What is Mineral Fracture? • Fracture – How a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way

17. What Special Properties does a Mineral have? • Fluorescence –minerals that glow under ultraviolet light • Magnetism - ex. Loadstone • Chemical Reactivity- ex. Calcite gives off carbondioxide • Electrical Properties – ex. quartz

18. Section2: How are Minerals Formed? • Two General Ways: • Crystallization of melted materials • Minerals fromMagma • Crystallization of materials dissolved in water • Minerals fromHot watersolutions • Minerals formedby evaporation

19. What is Crystallization? • Crystallization • the process by which atoms are arranged to form a material with a crystal structure

20. How do Minerals form from Magma? • Minerals form as magma cools inside the crust, or as lava hardens on the surface

21. What Effects Crystal Size? • Rate at which magma cools • Slower cooling forms larger crystals • The amount of gas the magma contains • The chemical composition of the magma

22. How do Minerals Form from Hot Water Solutions? • Magma beneath Earth’s surface has heated the water to a high temperature beneath Earth’s surface causing minerals to dissolve • When this solution cools the elements and compounds leave the solution and crystallize as minerals

23. What is a Solution? • Solution – A mixture in which one substance dissolves in another

24. What do Pure Metals often form from Hot Water Solutions? • Veins – A narrow channel orslabof amineralthat is much different from the surrounding rock

25. How are Minerals Formed by Evaporation? • As water turns to vapor it leaves behind the mineral • Example: A salt water solution leaves behind large crystals of salt

26. Where are Minerals Found? • Earth’s crust is made up of a variety of minerals however; rare and less common minerals are usually located near plateboundaries because of volcanic activity and mountain building

27. Section 3: How are Minerals Used? • Minerals are the source of • Metals ex. Aluminum, Iron • Gemstones ex. Rubies and Sapphires • Other Useful materials ex. Talc (talcum powder)

28. Now show me your completed notes and I will give you your webquest-keep the laptop