MINERALS

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MINERALS
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Minerals are ALL AROUND YOU

• Ceramic tile
• Bike racks
• Bricks
• Glass
• Gems
• Diamonds
• Aluminum

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Mineral Characteristics

• 4,000 minerals on Earth
• All share FOUR characteristics
• Formed in a natural process found in nature,
  not man-made
• Inorganic arent made by life processes
  (non-living)
• They have a distinct Chemical composition ex
  NaCl (halite) gives a distinct taste.

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• Crystalline solids have a definite volume
  shape. This pattern is repeated over and over.
• Cubic Tetragonal
• Monoclinic Hexagonal
• (see page 64)

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How Do They Form?

• Crystals may be visible (clear quartz) or not
  (rose quartz) based on where they are developed
• Can form from MAGMA
• Magma (hot melted rock) cools when it reaches the
  surface the molecules move closer together to
  combine into compounds the type and amount of
  elements present determine which minerals will
  form

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• OR can form from SOLUTIONS
• Minerals dissolved in water when water evaporates
  molecules left behind come together to form
  crystals
• Relates to Earths Crust
• Most common minerals
• are mostly composed of
• 8 elements in the earths
• Crust Most include silicon
• (Si) and oxygen(O) which
• are the most abundant
• elements in the crust