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Difference between Mineral and Mineraloid
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What is Mineral? Mineral is a naturally occurring, solid, inorganic substance with definite crystal structure and must have a definite chemical composition. Figure: Mineral (Pyrite and Quartz)
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What is Mineral? Mineral must have Five properties :
Naturally Occurring - Minerals are found on Earth and not man-made, Inorganic - Minerals must not consist of living materials, Solid - Minerals must have a definite shape and volume, Crystal Structure - Particles inside minerals form a crystal pattern, Definite Chemical Composition - Minerals are made up of elements from periodic table.
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What is Mineraloid? A mineraloid is a mineral-like substance that does not demonstrate crystallinity. Mineraloids possess chemical compositions that vary beyond the generally accepted ranges for specific minerals. For example, Obsidian is an amorphous glass but not a crystal.
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Mineral vs Mineraloid A material must meet the following five requirements - naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, ordered atomic structure, definite chemical composition (can vary within a limited range) whereas A mineraloid is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid that does not exhibit crystallinity. Moreover, mineral become mineraloid when any of the five properties got missed.
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Mineral vs Mineraloid Mineraloid may have the outward appearance of a mineral, but it does not have the “ordered atomic structure” required to meet the definition of a mineral. Some mineraloids lack the “definite chemical composition” required to be a mineral. Minerals are “crystalline.” In other words, they have an ordered atomic structure whereas mineraloids are “amorphous.” This means that their internal atomic structure is not ordered.
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Mineral vs Mineraloid For example, Olivine, Pyroxene, Muscovite, Biotite, Calcite and others are the examples of minerals whereas Obsidian is a mineraloid which is a volcanic glass and Pumice, Opal etc. are the mineraloid as well. Mineraloids can be liquid; Water and mercury are often classified as mineraloids whereas mineral must be a solid.
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Images of Mineraloid Figure: Opal Figure: Water Figure: Obsidian
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Images of Minerals
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References https://geology.com/minerals/mineraloids/
of-minerals difference-between-mineral-and.html
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