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Understanding Minerals: Properties and Identification Guide

Discover the properties and characteristics of minerals, including color, luster, hardness, and more. Learn how to identify minerals and differentiate between silicate and nonsilicate groups. Find out why some materials are considered minerals while others are not.

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Understanding Minerals: Properties and Identification Guide

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  1. What is a Mineral?

  2. Properties: • Solid • Cannot be a liquid or a gas • Naturally Occurring • Found in nature, not man-made • Inorganic • Is not alive and never was, non-living • Fixed composition • Has a chemical formula, most are formed from compounds of two or more elements, some minerals consist of one element ex. Au • Crystal Form • A definite structure in which atoms are arranged

  3. Definition: A mineral is a naturally formed, inorganic solid that has a definite crystalline structure.

  4. Questions to ask yourself when determining if an item is a mineral or not: • Is it non-living material? • Is it a solid? • Is it formed in nature? • Does it have a crystalline structure? The next few slides show an assortment of items. As a group, categorize the items as either: Minerals or Non-Minerals.

  5. Wood

  6. Gold

  7. Fossil

  8. Topaz

  9. Bones

  10. Granite

  11. Quartz

  12. Pearls

  13. Talc

  14. Icebergs

  15. Diamond

  16. Coal

  17. Rock Salt

  18. And the answers are… • Minerals • Gold • Topaz • Quartz • Talc • Iceberg* • Diamonds • Non-Minerals • Wood - once living • Fossils – once living • Bone - living material • Granite - intrusive igneous rock • Pearls – made by oysters • Coal - Sedimentary rock • Rock Salt – Sedimentary rock According to IMA– ice is listed as a mineral. Why?

  19. Two Groups of Minerals • Silicates • Contains Silicon (Si) and Oxygen (O) • 90% of Earth’s crust • Combine with elements such as Al, Fe, Mg, and K • Nonsilicates • Do not contain combinations of Si and O • May contain C, O, F, S • Classes of Nonsilicates • Native Elements: Au, Cu, Ag • Oxides : Al or Fe combine with O • Carbonates: C + O • Sulfates: S + O • Halides: F, Cl, I, or Br combine with Na, K, or Ca • Sulfides: Pb, Fe, Ni, combine with S

  20. Identifying Minerals • Color – the same mineral can come in a variety of colors, not reliable

  21. Luster – the way in which a mineral reflects light • Metallic - opaque and reflective, like metal • Submetallic - to nearly opaque and reflect well • Nonmetallic - not looking like a metal at all • Vitreous - glassy • Silky - fibrous • Resinous – yellow, dark orange, brown • Waxy • Pearly – like inside a mollusk • Earthy – dull, looks like dirt or clay

  22. Streak – the color of the mineral in a powdered form • Cleavage – when minerals break along a smooth, flat surface • Fracture – when minerals break unevenly along a curved or irregularsurface

  23. Hardness – a minerals resistance to being scratched • Moh’sScale of Hardness 1 - 10

  24. Density – how much matter is in a given amount of space • Special Properties • Fluorescence – glow under ultraviolet light • Chemical Reaction – fizzes with acid test • Optical Properties – double image formed • Magnetism – magnetic, attract iron • Taste – salty • Radioactivity – radium or uranium contained

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