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What is a Mineral?

What is a Mineral?. Earth Science Chapter 4 Section 1. Mineral Characteristics. Mineral . Naturally occurring Inorganic Solid Specific chemical composition Definite crystalline structure. Rock Forming Minerals. 3000 minerals occur in Earth’s crust 8-10 refered to rock forming minerals

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What is a Mineral?

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  1. What is a Mineral? Earth Science Chapter 4 Section 1

  2. Mineral Characteristics • Mineral • Naturally occurring • Inorganic • Solid • Specific chemical composition • Definite crystalline structure

  3. Rock Forming Minerals • 3000 minerals occur in Earth’s crust • 8-10 refered to rock forming minerals • Make up most of the rocks

  4. Minerals from Magma • Magma less dense than surrounding rocks • Rises • As cools, crystals form • Elements in magma determine the mineral formed • Large crystals • Cool slowly, atoms have time to arrange in large crystals • Small crystals • Rapidly cooling magma

  5. Minerals from Solution • Minerals dissolved in water • Salts • Saturated • Water can’t hold any more of the substance • Supersaturated - Precipitates • Solution becomes overfilled • Conditions right for minerals to form • Individual atoms bond together and mineral crystals form into solids from the solution

  6. Minerals form Solutions • Evaporates • Minerals crystallize when the solution evaporates

  7. Crystal Form • Distinct crystal shape • Easily recognizable • Halite- cubes • Quartz - double pointed ends • Perfect crystals are not the norm • Crystallization should not be used as only form of identification

  8. Luster Metallic Luster Non Metallic Luster • Metallic luster • Shiny surfaces that reflect a lot of light • Nonmetallic luster • Do not shine • Dull, pearly, waxy, silky or earthy

  9. Hardness • Hardness is the measure of how easily a mineral can be scratched. • Most useful and reliable of all tests • Mohs Hardness Scale used to compare minerals

  10. Cleavage and Fracture Cleavage Fracture • A mineral that splits easily alone one or more flat planes • Minerals that bread with rough jagged edges Conchoidal fracture

  11. Streak • The powder left on a ceramic plate when a mineral is scratched along it. • Does not always match the color of the mineral.

  12. Color • Most noticeable characteristic • Least reliable • Sometimes caused by trace elements or compounds within the mineral

  13. Special Properties • Magnetism • Striations • Double refraction • Light is split into two rays • Effervescence • Does if fizz? • Fluorescence • Shine in ultraviolet light

  14. Texture • How the mineral feels to the touch • Subjective • Used with a combination of tests

  15. Specific Gravity • Ratio of the weight of the mineral with the weight of an equal volume of water. • Specific gravity of minerals can be roughly relatively tested using heft.

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