Download 1) Naturally occurring….

MINERALS
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The building blocks of rocks…..
Did any of you use minerals before coming to
school this morning??? I sure hope so!!
All of these items used to build
a house are made of minerals!
How Minerals Affect Your Life
The Average American will use -
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30,415 pounds of salt
1.7 million pounds of stone, sand and gravel
83,890 gallons of petroleum
42,581 pounds of iron ore
1,078 pounds of lead
**Total – 3.75 million pounds of minerals,
metals and fuels in your lifetime!!
MINERALS
= a naturally occurring, inorganic solid
with a definite chemical composition and a
particular crystalline structure
(orderly arrangement of atoms)
1) Naturally occurring
Formed in processes on or in the
earth with no human input
2) Inorganic
Not made by living process
*It has never been alive!
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Amber and sugar are not
minerals because they
formed from living things.
3) Definite chemical composition
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All minerals are elements or compounds
with definite chemical composition
ex) mineral halite (NaCl) has a distinctive salty
taste
-Copper (Cu)
- Beryl (Be3Al2Si6A18)
4) Crystal Structure
The atoms of the mineral are arranged in
patterns that repeat over and over again.
ex) Graphite versus Diamond
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Uses of Minerals….
Ores - used for metals, extracted by
mining (ex. iron)
Gems – rare and beautiful, often
used for jewelry
Now let’s master minerals!!
What are some physical properties
we know?
Here are physical properties we
will use to identify minerals:
Color
This is an easy clue, but it can be
misleading.
 Many different minerals have the same
color and appearance…
ex) pyrite and gold
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Hardness
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A measure of how easily a mineral can be
scratched.
Mohs Hardness Scale
Diamond is the hardest
mineral. On a scale from
1-10, diamond is a 10!
Luster
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The way the mineral reflects light.
Either metallic or non-metallic.
Nonmetallic can be:
Dull, Pearly, Silky, and Glassy
Streak
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The color of the mineral in the
powdered form.
Gold has a yellowish streak. Pyrite has a greenishblack streak.
Cleavage and Fracture
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Cleavage – mineral that break along a smooth,
flat surface (ex. Mica)
Not all minerals have cleavage…
Fracture – minerals that break with uneven,
rough, or jagged surfaces
(ex. Halite)
Other Properties:
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Some minerals are magnetic. (Magnetite)
Some react with HCl (Calcite)
Salty Taste (Halite) - many minerals are
poisonous, so DON’T TASTE THEM!!
Sulfur has a smell like rotten eggs.
Silicates
Minerals that contain mostly silicon and
oxygen are called silicates
 Si and O combine to form most of the
minerals in Earth mantle and crust
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Can you master
minerals?