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What is a mineral?

Objectives
Define a mineral.

Describe how minerals form.


Identify the most common elements in Earths crust.

Vocabulary
mineral
crystal
magma
silicate

What is a mineral?

What is a mineral?
Earths crust is composed of about 3000
minerals.

Minerals play important roles in forming rocks


and in shaping Earths surface, and a select few
have played a role in shaping civilization.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Characteristics
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic
solid with a specific chemical composition and a
definite crystalline structure.
Naturally Occurring and Inorganic
That minerals are naturally occurring means that
they are formed by natural processes.
All minerals are inorganic, meaning that they arent
alive and never were alive during any part of their
existence.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Characteristics
Solids with Specific Compositions
All minerals are solids with definite shapes and
volumes.
Each type of mineral has a chemical composition
unique to that mineral.
Although a few minerals, such as copper, silver,
and sulfur, are composed of single elements, the
vast majority are made from compounds.
In some minerals, chemical composition may vary
within a well-defined range.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Characteristics
Definite Crystalline Structure
The atoms in minerals are arranged in regular
geometric patterns that are repeated again and again.
A crystal is a solid in which the atoms are arranged in
repeating patterns.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Characteristics
Definite Crystalline Structure
At times and fairly rare, a mineral will form in an open
space and grow into one large crystal, possibly taking
the shape of one of the six major crystal systems.
Tetragonal

Cubic

Orthorhombic

Hexagonal

Monoclinic

Triclinic

What is a mineral?

Minerals from Magma


Minerals can form from the cooling of magma.

Magma is molten material found beneath Earths


surface.
The type and amount of elements present in the
magma help determine which minerals will form
as it cools.
Small crystals form from rapidly cooling magma
and large crystals form from slowly cooling
magma.

What is a mineral?

Minerals from Solution


A given volume of water in a solution can
dissolve only so much of a solid before the
water becomes saturated.
If a solution becomes supersaturated, or overfilled,
with another substance, mineral crystals may begin
to precipitate, or drop out of solution.
When liquid evaporates from a supersaturated
solution, the elements remain behind and may
begin to arrange into crystals.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
About 30 minerals are common in Earths crust.
The most common minerals are often referred to
as rock-forming minerals because they make up
most of the rocks found in Earths crust.
The vast majority of minerals are made up of the
eight most common elements.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
Silicates
Silicates are minerals that contain silicon and
oxygen, and usually one or more other elements.
Silicates make up approximately 96 percent of the
minerals found in Earths crust.
The most common minerals, feldspar and quartz,
are silicates.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
Silicates
One silicon atom attaches to four oxygen atoms to
form a silica tetrahedron, a three-dimensional shape
structured like a pyramid.
The basic silica tetrahedron has the
ability to share oxygen atoms with
other tetrahedron molecules.
This allows the molecules to
combine chemically and
structurally in a vast number
of ways.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
Silicates
Some possible arrangements formed by silica
tetrahedrons include single chains, double chains,
and sheets.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
Silicates

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
Carbonates
Carbonates are minerals composed of one or more
metallic elements with the carbonate compound CO3.
Carbonates are the primary minerals found in rocks
such as limestone, coquina, and marble.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
Oxides
Oxides are compounds of oxygen and a metal.
Hematite (Fe2O3) and magnetite (Fe3O4) are common
iron oxides and good sources of iron.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups
Oxides
Other major mineral groups are sulfides, sulfates,
halides, and native elements.
Sulfides such as pyrite (FeS2) are compounds of
sulfur and one or more elements.
Sulfates such as anhydrite (CaSO4) are composed
of elements with the sulfate compound SO 4.
Halides such as halite (NaCl) are made up of chloride
or fluoride along with calcium, sodium, or potassium.
A native element such as silver (Ag) or copper (Cu)
is made up of one element only.

What is a mineral?

Mineral Groups

What is a mineral?

Section Assessment
1. Match the following terms with their definitions.
___
B mineral
___
C crystal
___
D magma
___
A silicate

A. minerals that contain silicon and


oxygen, and usually one or more
other elements
B. a naturally occurring, inorganic solid
with a specific chemical composition
and definite crystalline structure
C. a solid in which the atoms are
arranged in repeating patterns
D. molten material found beneath
Earths surface

What is a mineral?

Section Assessment
2. What are the two ways that minerals can form
from a supersaturated solution?

Mineral crystals can precipitate, or drop out of


solution if the solution becomes supersaturated.
Minerals can also form when liquid evaporates
from a supersaturated solution leaving behind
the elements which may begin to arrange
into crystals.

What is a mineral?

Section Assessment
3. Identify whether the following statements are
true or false.
_______
true There are about 30 common minerals in
Earths crust.
_______
false Slowly cooling magma produces small crystals.
_______
false Coal is a mineral.
_______
true Silicates are the most common minerals
on Earth.
_______
true Well-defined crystal shapes are rare.

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