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Mineral
No
Unit Introduction
liquids or gases can be minerals!!!
Specific Chemical Composition means that since
What is a Mineral?
most minerals are compounds, the elements and their
are
to that mineral
Some minerals such as silver are

b.
.
7 The student will investigate and understand the
difference between renewable and nonrenewable
resources. Key concepts include
c. resources found in Virginia
ES
Objective
1. Identify the major elements of the Earth’s crust.
2. Identify common minerals and ores and their uses.
Include: quartz, calcite,
, gypsum, fluorite,
feldspar, biotite, muscovite, hematite, galena, halite,
, magnetite, sulfur, and graphite.
3. Identify Virginia’s major rock and
and their uses.
Minerals
Earth’s crust is composed of about
different
minerals. They play very important roles in
civilization. Throughout history wars have been waged
and empires have risen and fallen over the conquest of
a select few minerals such as gold and silver
considered to be precious.
Mineral Characteristics
Mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with
a specific chemical composition and a definite
crystalline structure

means
they are formed by natural processes
Synthetic diamonds and other materials developed in
labs
minerals
Inorganic means that they are
and
alive
Salt is a mineral sugar is not

means it has a definite shape and volume
means the atoms are arranged in regular geometric
patterns that are repeated over and over.
Mineral Formation
Since minerals must form from
there are two primary ways that
they form here on Earth
Minerals can form from the
which is the molten material found beneath Earth’s
surface as magma rises closer to the surface the molten
compounds no longer move freely and they begin to
interact chemically to form minerals
Small crystals means the magma
Large crystals means the magma cooled more
Minerals also form from solution such as when a
liquid evaporates from the solution and the elements
remain behind “
”
Minerals will
(drop out) of a
solution that becomes supersaturated meaning it can
hold no more dissolved solids
Of the 3,000 minerals found in the crust only about
of these are common.
of these make up
about 90% of the Earth’s crust
Mineral Groups

are the most abundant group (96%)
containing the two most abundant elements in the crust
and

and Feldspar are the most abundant
minerals

are minerals composed of one or more
metallic elements with the carbonate compound
Carbonates are the primary minerals in rocks such as
coquina, and
Mineral Groups

are compounds of
and a
Hematite (Fe2O3) and Magnetite (Fe3O4) are
common examples
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