atmosphere makes up of all the gases on Earth.

Nitrogen- the most abundant gas .

Geosphere- means life, and also includes all the soil, rocks, and minerals. Has 3
layers; crust,mantle and core.
Hydrosphere- composed of all water on Earth in any form: water vapor, liquid
water, and ice. - It is comprised of 97.5% saltwater and 2.5% freshwater.
Biosphere- comprised of all living things

Physical Properties of Minerals

Color -refers to certain wavelengths of light that are reflected by the material
Streak -is the color of the powdered form of a mineral.
Luster- is the appearance of a mineral’s surface
Crystal habit-The mineral’s shape.
Cleavage is the tendency of some minerals to break along flat surfaces.
Fracture is the pattern in which the mineral breaks aside from its planes of
cleavage.
Hardness is the resistance of the minerals to scratching. It is measured by
scratching the mineral with another object of known hardness
Friedrich Mohs- propose the moh’s scale .
Specific Gravity- the ratio of a minerals weight to the equal volume of water.

The most common Rock-forming Minerals

 Olivine
 Pyroxene
 Amphibole
 Feldspar
 Mica
 quarts
Chemical Properties of Mineral
Solubility -refers the ability of a substance to dissolve in a solvent at a specified
temperature.
wet chemical analysis - dissolving a mineral in an acid and analyzing the solution.
Spectroscopic techniques - quantitative analysis of mineral components depending
on the light absorbance of the compounds
-Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy- uses a controlled flame to separate the
components.
Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy- uses argon gas to move the sample
vapor
-X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy- uses high voltage electrons
-X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) - done by firing an X-ray beam at a finely-
ground sample at different angles.

Igneous Rocks –came from cooled magma or lava “Solidificatin”

Crystal size-An indicator whether a rock is formed deeper down surface or just in the
surface .
-came from the word ignis:fire