Minerals


 * Mineral Quiz taken on Tuesday, November 24th**

http://www.quia.com/quiz/2048137.html

=****Minerals ****= Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a definite set of chemical and physical properties.

Therefore, minerals can not be man-made, can never have been living, and can only exist in the solid state.

**//Chemical Properties//**
Minerals are composed of either an individual element or a compound of elements.

Minerals that form from compounds of elements can be classified by there chemical composition into groups or families of minerals.


 * the two most common elements found in the Earth's crust are Silicon and Oxygen
 * a list of the most common elements found in the Earth's crust can be found on the front page of the ESRT

**//[|Mineral Groups]//**
Native Minerals


 * minerals which are composed of only one element aand are more common among metals such as gold and copper.

Silicates


 * Contain Silicon and Oxygen in various ratios in their chemical composition
 * Are the most abundant group of minerals
 * Examples are quartz, muscovite mica, and garnet

Sulfides

Oxides

Sulfates

Chlorides

Carbonates

**//Physical Properties//**
Minerals can be identified based on a set of physical properties which each mineral possesses


 * Luster** is the way in which a mineral reflects light from its surface

Metallic luster - when a mineral looks like metal when reflecting light

Nonmetallic luster - when a mineral does not shine like metal in reflecting light. Their are several varieties or subcategories of nonmetallic luster. They include dull, earthy, waxy, vitreous, pearly, and adamantine.
 * Examples:**

Waxy Luster (Chalcedony)

Vitreous Luster (quartz)

Adamantine Luster (diamond)

Freidrich Moh was a German geologist who developed a scale by which an unknown minerals hardness could be compared to the hardness of ten minerals. It is known as [|Moh's scale of hardness].
 * Hardness** is a measure of how easily a mineral can be scratched.

Moh's Scale of Hardness 1 Talc 2 Gypsum 2.5 fingernail 3 Calcite 4 Fluorite 5 Apatite 5.5 glass 6 Feldspar 7 Quartz 8 Topaz 9 Corundum 10 Diamond

To identify hardness a mineral is first scratched against a glass plate. The hardness of glass is 5.5. If the mineral scratches the glass then it has a hardness greater then 5.5. If the mineral is softer then glass you may want to try using your fingernail to scratch the mineral. Your fingernail has a hardness of 2.5. If your fingernail can scratch the mineral it has a hardness less then 2.5, if not the mineral's hardness ranges from 2.5 - 5.5.


 * Breakage Pattern**


 * Streak** is the color of a mineral's powder when scraped along an unglazed tile.

Below is a short video on how to determine the streak of a mineral: media type="file" key="Movie 1.mov" width="300" height="300"
 * Color** Is the least useful property used in mineral identification because many minerals may be the same color, and many minerals occur in nature with a variety of colors.


 * Colors of minerals can be vary due to small impurities of other elements in the composition of the mineral.

//**Identifying Minerals**//

To identify a mineral you must first test all of the physical properties above. You can then use the ESRT Properties of Common Minerals chart to identify the minerals name.

Magnetism -

[[image:fluorescent-minerals.jpg]]
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 * Funny video on minerals and rocks **