Mineral and Rock forming

Resources
Learning Objectives:
• I will be able to demonstrate an
understanding about the physical and
chemical properties of minerals
• I will be able to identify some common
rock-forming minerals
Minerals are naturally
occurring inorganic solids.
Do you consider water a
mineral?
How about snowflake, or
tube ice? Are these minerals?
Minerals are considered
natural because they are
derived from natural
geologic processes.
Minerals have crystalline
structures and definite
composition.

Quartz - Silicon Oxide

Minerals are the basic
building blocks of rocks
A common example of a
mineral is salt. Other
common rock-forming
minerals are sulfur, quartz
and graphite.
Some of the useful properties or
mineral are color, streak,
hardness, cleavage, crystalline
structure, transparency,
magnetism, tenacity, luster,
odor, and specific gravity.
Properties of Minerals:

1. Color is the usually the

property used to identify
minerals easily.
Color is a result of the way
minerals absorb light.
Color is considered the least
reliable means of identifying
minerals.
Augite
Brown, green,
black, or purple

Biotite
Black, brown, or
green
Calcite
Pearlescent, and pale
colors

Dolomite
Colorless, pale pink,
brown, or gray
Feldspar
Yellow, white, pink,
green, or gray

Hematite
Metallic gray or
black
Hornblende
Green, yellow,
brown, or black

Limonite
Black, brown, or
yellow
Sulfur

Pale gold
2. Streak is the color of the
mineral in powder form.
Pulverizing minerals is
tedious and makes the
minerals lose their integrity.
3. Hardness refers to the
measure of the mineral’s
resistance to scratching
The Mohs scale is used to
measure the relative
hardness of minerals.
The harder the mineral, the
greater is its resistance to
scratching.
The mohs scale of hardness
was developed in 1812 by a
German mineralogist named
Frederick Mohs (1773-
1939).
4. Cleavage and fracture are
used to describe how
minerals break into pieces.
The breakage along the
crystalline structure where a
mineral is likely to break
smoothly along a plane is
known as cleavage.
A mineral fracture - breaks
in a direction where there is
no cleavage and with
irregular edges
5. Crystalline structure or the
crystal lattice, tells how
mineral’s crystals are
arranged.
Crystal solid forms a regular
repeating 3D crystal lattice
Amorphous are minerals that
do not have crystalline
structure.
6. Transparency or
diaphaneity indicates the
extent of light that can pass
through the mineral.
7. Magnetism indicates the
ability of a mineral to attract
or repel other minerals
8. Tenacity indicates the
ability of a mineral to attract
or repel other mineral’s level
of resistance to stress
8. Tenacity can tell if the
mineral is brittle, malleable,
and elastic
9. Luster refers to the
reaction of a mineral to light.
It determines how brilliant or
dull the mineral is.
10. Odor is a distinct smell
of a mineral that is usually
released from a chemical
reaction when subjected to
water, heat, air, or friction.
Example is sulfur, it smells
like a lit match.
11. Specific gravity is a
measure of the density of a
mineral.
It determines how heavy the
mineral is by comparing its
weight to that of water
Chemical properties of minerals
this classification was first used
by James Dana.
Eight basic classes of minerals
Silicate class
Carbonate class
Sulphate class
Halide class
Oxide class
Sulphide class
Phosphate class
Native element class
1. Silicate class is the largest
and most abundant group
containing silicon and
oxygen with some
aluminum, magnesium, iron,
and calcium
2. Carbonate class is mostly
found deposited in marine
environments.
3. Sulphate class forms in
areas with high evaporation
rates and where salty waters
slowly evaporate.
4. Halide class contains
natural salts.
Minerals in this class have relatively
low hardness, may be transparent,
have good cleavage, have low
specific gravities, and are poor
conductors of heat and electricity.
5. Oxide class is a diverse
class, they are formed as
precipitates close to Earth’s
surface or as oxidation
products of minerals during
the process of weathering.
6. Sulphide class has
important metals like lead,
and silver, which are
considered economically
significant.
7. Phosphate class contains
minerals with phosphorus. It
is considered an important
biological mineral found in
the teeth and bones of many
animals.
8. Native element class
contains metals and
intermetallic elements or
natural alloy and constituents
of a few meteorites.