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UNIT 1 MINERALS

7th Grade
OBJECTIVES
Differentiate between minerals and rocks.
 Describe the distinguishing properties that can
be used to classify minerals. (texture, smell,
luster, hardness, crystal shape, streak, reaction
to magnets, and acids.
 Describe the methods used to identify the
distinguishing properties of minerals.

SECTION 1 WHAT IS A MINERAL?
_____ are made of ________, but _______ are
not made of ______________.
 What is a mineral? 4 questions

1.
2.
3.
4.
Does it have a crystalline structure?
Is it a solid?
Is it formed in nature?
Is it nonliving material?
A
_________ is a
naturally formed,
inorganic solid with a
crystalline structure.
MINERALS: FROM THE INSIDE OUT
Minerals are made up of __________.
_______________are pure substances that
cannot be broken down into simple substances
by ordinary chemical means.
 All minerals contain one or more of the 92
elements present in the Earth’s crust.

ATOMS AND COMPOUNDS
Each element is made of only one kind of atom.
A ______ is the smallest part of an element
that has all the properties of that element.
 Most minerals are made up of compounds of
several different elements.
 A __________ is a substance made of two or
more elements that have been chemically
joined, or bonded together.


Halite is a mineral that is a compound of
sodium and chlorine, but gold is just made of
gold.
CRYSTALS

A mineral is also made up of one or more
crystals. ______________________ are solid,
geometric forms of minerals produced by a
repeating pattern of atoms that is present
throughout the mineral.
DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN MINERALS AND
ROCKS
____________
are
composed of various
minerals. A mineral is
just a mineral.
IDENTIFYING MINERALS
If you found two different types of minerals,
how would you know what they are?
 There are 7 different tests that you can perform
to determine what type of mineral you have.

COLOR
Color of a mineral. Quartz is clear, but if it has
impurities it can be just about any color.
 Color is not a reliable indicator of a mineral’s
identity.

LUSTER
The way the surface reflects light is called
luster. Shiny or dull.
 See the luster chart on page 8
 Metallic, submetallic, or nonmetallic.

STREAK
The color a mineral in powdered form is called
the mineral’s streak.
 The color of a sample’s streak is not affected
by weathering. Streak is a more reliable than
color as an indicator of a mineral’s identity.

CLEAVAGE AND FRACTURE
Different types of minerals break in different
ways. The way a mineral breaks is determined
by it’s atoms.
 ____________ is the tendency of some
minerals to break along flat surfaces. P. 9
figure 5
 ____________ is the tendency of some
minerals to break unevenly along curved or
irregular surfaces.

HARDNESS
_____________ refers to a mineral’s resistance to
being scratched.
 You can’t scratch a diamond because it is the
hardest mineral there is. But talc is one of the
softest minerals.
 Scientist use the __________ hardness scale to
determine a minerals hardness. Minerals are
rated between 1-10. By trying to scratch a mineral
with other minerals to determine its place on the
scale

MOH’S HARDNESS SCALE
___________
__________ is the measure of how much
matter there is in a given amount of space.
 Density is the ratio of an object’s mass to it’s
volume. D=M / V

SPECIAL PROPERTIES

Some properties are particular to only a few
types of minerals.
 Fluorescence
 Chemical
reaction
 Optical properties
 Radioactivity
 Taste
 Magnetism