Minerals and Gemstones

By Nina
Introduction
Welcome to this presentation on minerals and gems. This will mainly about the attributes
of a gem and how minerals and gems are connected. However I will stray away from these
main topics and talk about a couple of other gem and mineral related subjects. Minerals
and gems have many parts to them and I hope you will like learning about them as much
as I did.
Table of contents
- What is a mineral
- What is a chemical compound
- What is a chemical composition
- What are chemical substances
- How are minerals and gems connected
- How do gems get their colour
- How do gems get their hardness
- Why do gems have lustre and streak
- Fun facts
- Bibliography
- Conclusion
What is a mineral?
Minerals are a naturally occurring inorganic element or compound that has a ordered
internal structure, a fixed chemical composition, crystal form and a physical property.

Minerals make up almost everything except for plants and animals. Ice is a mineral but
water isn’t. People think water is a mineraloid which is almost a mineral but falls short by
some requirements.

Minerals
What are chemical substances
A chemical substance is anything with a fixed chemical compound. For example a
chemical compound can be water pure halite etc. Chemical substances are found in
everything including humans! Chemical substances are used form multiple equations to
form different types of minerals( though minerals are not man made).

Halite
 What is a chemical compound?
A requirement for a mineral is a ‘fixed chemical compound’. This is what a chemical compound is: a chemical compound is a
bunch of molecules. Every molecule in a chemical compound is made from two or more different atoms conjoined together.
Those atoms each make a property from the periodic table. For example Sodium plus Chloride atoms can form into
Halite( which is better known as rock salt). When a sodium atom connects to a chloride atom it starts to form halite. However
this process has to repeat itself billions of times to actually form Halite. This is what a chemical compound is.

Halite
Atom
 What is a chemical composition
Chemical composition means the arrangement, type and ratio of atoms inside of molecules that are in chemical
substances. Chemical composition can change when certain amounts of chemicals are added or subtracted from
the substance. When a certain ratio of of atoms( the ones from the periodic table) changes than so does the
chemical composition of the substance.

This is salicylic acids O-hydroxybenzoic

chemical composition.

OH

The chemical composition for

chocolate.
OH
How are minerals and gems connected
Minerals are gems. When minerals are underground they get compressed by tectonic
plates and they start to come together and form gems. That is the most common way a
gem can form, that is the metamorphic process. That’s why most gems are formed
underground. Since gems are just cut or polished minerals that’s their connection to each
other. Besides minerals getting compressed by tectonic plates they also can form the
precious gems we know through igneous process. For example diamonds are igneous
gems because they form in kimberlite pipes. Magma flows through those pipes and
usually reaches the surface but when it does not it starts cooling and crystallizing and
turning into coarse-grained minerals which are diamonds. This is how gems and minerals
Diamond
are connected.
 Azurite Malachite
How gems get their colour
There are 4000 different minerals in the world and they all have many colours. Minerals are made up from chemical elements( elements from the periodic table). A chemical
element is a substance made from only one type of atom( example chloride atom, gold atom). Minerals are forged underground and there are rocks like marble which is pure
calcite. All gems belong to these four categories: Igneous, metamorphic, Sedimentary and hydrothermal. When minerals turn into gemstones they get their colour from there
chemical composition. The atoms that are in the gemstones decide the end result colour. A great example of this colouration process is Malachite and Azurite. They both have
strong blue and green colours because they both contain lots of copper in the minerals atomic structure. Sapphire has aluminum oxide atoms with trace amounts of elements
such as iron, titanium, chlorine, vanadium or magnesium these all contribute to the end structure and purpose of sapphire. However the colour is made because of two
elements: titanium and iron. Sapphire gets its colour from the charge transfer theory that was created by Hans Bethe and John Hasbrouck van Vleck. When a corundum has a
few hundredths of titanium it will clear if it has little iron then it takes up a pale yellow colour. However if both titanium and iron are in the corundum then it takes a deep
rich blue colour. There are other ways that gems can get their famous colours besides the charge transfer theory. Gems can get there colour from only corundum. Rubies, a
magnificent spectacle of a gem, gets its colour from a theory called corundum. Pure corundum is made from aluminum and oxygen this makes the gem clear. Now you must
be wondering the ruby I know is red why is it not clear? This is because a miniscule amount of chromium replaces the aluminum, about one percent. That is a couple gems
can get their colours but truely to sum it all up gems get their colour from the light colour spectrum. This is how our eyes perceive light wavelengths. When molecules interact they
let certain light wavelengths pass through them. If gems molecules take no light that is surrounding it turns black. This is how gems get all their colours. The absorption of
light and the transmission of specific wavelengths is how gems get their colour(this applies to everything in the world) .

Gems colour process is also classified into two groups. The first one allochromatic. Allochromatic gems are gems that get there colour from the process of corundum.
Idiochromatic gems get their colour from the essential elements that make up there crystal structure, these elements also act as natural dye for the gem.

Ruby
Sapphire
How gems get their hardness
Different stones have different levels of toughness and this is why, gems like diamonds are
extremely tough because of the bond between the atoms that make the crystal structure of
the gem. The stronger the bond between atom the less likely that the atoms at the surface
of the gem will separate( which is what causes the fractures, breaks and chips). This is
how certain gems can be so tough. If the bond between the atoms that make the crystal
structure is weak then the gems surface would break and chip often.
Mohs hardness scale Mineral
1
2 Talc
3 Gypsum
Chips and 4 Fluorite
5 Apatite
cracks on the 6 Quartz
gem 7 Topaz
8 Corundum
9 Diamond
10
 This is the streak of the
gem Cinnabar it is an

Why do gems have lustre and streak idiochromatic gem.

If a gem is allochromatic then its streak will always be white regardless of what colour it is or what type it is. If the gem is
idiochromatic then the streak may possess a certain colour. Lustre has many different types. Adamantine is a mirror like
gem the gems that have this lustre are diamonds, Vitreous gems are gems that have a glassy appearance to them some gems
that include vitreous lustre are Sapphires and Rubies, Pearly gems have swirly and milky appearance to them they don’t need to
have a white colour to them ems that have a pearly lustre and are not white are charoite gems( they hold a fabulous violet colour),
Silky gems are not very shiny however they get their name because they appear to the eye like they have strands of silk in them an
excellent gem that demonstrates the silk lustre is malachite with its rich green colour, Greasy is also a type of lustre it appears to
have a layer of grease on it(it does not) gems that look like they have a greasy lustre include the green serpentine gem, Resinous
gems typically hold a yellow orange or brown colour because it comes from the resin from trees a famous gem that is resinous is
amber, Waxy gems have less vibrant colours since the surface of the gem appears to be waxy a good example of this type of lustre
is jade, Dull gems are simply dull it is unexpected but there are some gems that hold this type of lustre like the limonite gem and
finally the metallic lustre reflects light ad when the gem does so it memes the surface look like a polished piece of metal a gem
with a metallic lustre is pyrite.

Uvarovite is an Quartz is an
idiochromatic allochromatic gem.
gem.
 Phantom Quartz gem
Fun facts!
- A phantom gem is a gem that started growing then stopped, then a new crystal grew
around that one forming an amazing looking mineral

- The largest diamond was found in America and it was called Uncle Sam diamond
Pomegranate seed
- Musgravite is the rarest gem on earth
Garnet
- Garnet was named after pomegranate seeds

Musgravite
Bibliography
https://chem.libretexts.org/Courses/College_of_Marin/CHEM_114%3A_Introductory_Chemistry/06%3A_Chemical_Composition

https://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/thezone/minerals/define/chemical.htm

https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Chemical_substance

http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/educators/lesson_plans/minerals/minerals_crystals.html

https://www.gemrockauctions.com/learn/technical-information-on-gemstones/how-do-gemstones-form

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/charge-transfer

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Inorganic_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_and_Websites_(Inorganic_Chemistry)/Crystal_Field_Theory/Crystal_Field_Theory

https://chem.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Inorganic_Chemistry/Supplemental_Modules_and_Websites_(Inorganic_Chemistry)/Crystal_Field_Theory/Crystal_Field_Theory

https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonders?q=what+makes+a+gem+have+colour

https://www.gemselect.com/other-info/about-gemstone-color.php

https://stonebridgeimports.ca/a/654-what-is-gemstone-durability-and-wearability

https://stonebridgeimports.ca/a/654-what-is-gemstone-durability-and-wearability

https://stonebridgeimports.ca/a/654-what-is-gemstone-durability-and-wearability

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/gemstone-luster-polish-luster-fracture-luster/

https://www.gemsociety.org/article/gemstone-streak-testing/

https://www.daysjewelers.com/blog/days-jewelers/10-gemstone-fun-facts
Conclusion
I hope you have learned about both minerals and gems during this presentation and that
you enjoyed it as well. Minerals and gems are fascinating and I have relished the
opportunity to understand the inner workings of minerals and gems. Once again I hope
this presentation has provided understandable information. Thank you for listening.