Download Mighty Minerals

Mighty Minerals
Minerals are all around us
Today you will learn
•What the characteristics of minerals are
•How minerals are classified into groups
•Which mineral group is most common
Fascinating Fact
The elements oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron,
magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium
make up 99 percent of all minerals on Earth.
Just a box of rocks
BACKGROUND:
Scientists have identified over 2000
different minerals in the earth's crust. 95%
of the earth's crust is composed of about a
dozen different rock-forming minerals. The
rocks composed of these minerals can be
formed in three different ways. Scientists
can learn many different things about a rock
by observing and classifying it.
What is a mineral?
All natural earth materials are
made of minerals or a combination
of minerals
Minerals are the building blocks
of rocks
To be called a mineral it must
have the following 5
characteristics:
Mineral characteristic #1
occurs naturally
not artificial or manmade
Mineral characteristic #2
Solid
not a liquid or a gas
Platinum
(It might take two billion tons of
ore to produce one pound of
platinum!)
Mineral characteristic #3
Definite chemical
composition
Some minerals like gold
or silver are made of
only one element. (A
substance such as iron,
oxygen, and gold which
cannot be separated or
broken down by ordinary
chemical methods)
Other minerals, like
quartz and calcite, are
combinations of two or
more elements.
Mineral characteristic #4
atoms arranged in an
orderly pattern
Minerals are usually
solid crystals. They
have a number of flat
surfaces in an orderly
arrangement. For
example, a crystal of
quartz is always
hexagonal because of
the way the atoms of
silicon and oxygen join
together.
Mineral characteristic #5
Inorganic - not
alive and never
alive
SNIFE
Solid
Not Liquid or Gas or Plasma
Naturally Occurring
Not Human-Made
Inorganic
Not Alive - Never Was
Fixed Composition
Same Recipe, Everywhere, Every Time
Element or Compound
Not a Mixture