Mineral Properties

1
Mineral Properties and Identification
2
Special properties

• Halite (NaClsodium chloride)
• Taste like salt (it is.)
• Magnetite
• The mineral is magnetic
• Sulfur
• Smells like a burnt match
• Calcite (CaCo3-calcium carbonate)
• Fizzes when acid is placed on it

3
Mineral Vocabulary

• Color
• The color or colors of the mineral
• Luster
• The way light reflects off of a mineral
• Often referred as metallic or non-metallic
• Crystalline
• The crystal shape of a mineral according to the
  internal arrangement of atoms

4
Vocabulary continued

• Hardness
• The ability or inability to scratch a mineral
• Determined by Mohs Hardness Scale
• Cleavage
• The weak bonds in a minerals atomic arrangement
• This will cause the mineral to break along even
  planes

5
Vocabulary continued

• Streak
• The color of the powder residue of a mineral
• Determined by dragging it across a streak plate
• Atomic arrangement
• How the atoms are arranged and bonded in a
  mineral
• How the atoms are arranged determines hardness,
  cleavage and crystalline

6
Vocabulary continued

• Monomineralic
• A rock containing one mineral in composition
• Polymineralic
• A rock containing many minerals
• Silica Tetrahedron
• Arrangement of atoms using 4 oxygen atoms and 1
  silicon atom

7
Vocabulary continued

• Mineral
• A naturally occurring substance that must have
  crystal shape, chemical composition, and
  inorganic (non-living)
• Family
• A large group of minerals having common elements
  in composition
• Example The Silicates (all have silicon in
  composition)

8
Remember the chain
AtomsElementsMineralsRocksLithosphere (crust)
9
The Silica tetrahedron
10
The different looks
11
Mineral Properties

• Hardness (scratch)
• Fingernail 2-2.5
• Penny 3-3.5
• Glass 5-5.5
• Streak Plate 7
• Mohs Scale of 1 10
• 1 softest
• 10hardest

12
Cleavage
13
Cleavage examples
14
Metallic Luster(not shiny-looks like metal)
15
Non-Metallic Luster(may be shiny but not metal
like)
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Streak

• Drag the mineral across the streak plate tile and
  look for the color of the powder left behind

I dont think I need another slide for
color.duh!!!!!
17
Family- Silicates

• Most abundant family
• Covers 90 of the crust
• Basic composition
• SiO3
• silica oxygen (most abundant elements)
• Feldspars (most abundant)
• Quartz (second most)

18
Family- Carbonates Oxides

• Carbonate
• Second most abundant family
• Basic composition
• CaCO3 (calcium carbonate)
• Fizzes with acid
• Typically will have rhombus shape cleavage

• Oxides
• Basic composition
• Fe2O3 (iron oxide)
• Iron oxide rust