Minerals

What is a mineral? A naturally formed, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and crystalline structure.

What does crystalline structure mean? Minerals are crystals. Crystals are geometric shapes. The geometric shapes provide a repeating inner structure for minerals.

What are minerals made of? atoms  elements  minerals  rocks.

How do we classify minerals? Amethyst

Color Minerals come in many colors and shades. Some minerals only come in one color. Sulfur. Some minerals come in many colors. Quartz

Luster The way the surface reflects light. Metallic Submetallic Nonmetallic

Streak The color of the mineral in powdered form. Rubbed against a streak plate to find color.

Cleavage The way a mineral breaks. Some minerals break along flat surfaces in a particular way.

Fracture The way a mineral breaks. Some minerals break unevenly along irregular surfaces.

Hardness The resistance of a mineral to get scratched. Moh’s hardness scale ranges from 1- soft to 10-hard. Talc-1 Diamond-10

Density How much matter is in a certain space. Iron pyrite (fools gold) is less dense than gold.

Special Properties Property that only one or few minerals have. Fluorescence, chemical reactions, radioactivity, magnetism, taste.

What are minerals used for? Gypsum-Plaster

What are minerals used for? Minerals are mined for everyday use. The part of the rock that a mineral is mined for is called its ore.