MINERALS

 naturally occurring, inorganic solid

with orderly crystalline structure and
a definite chemical composition.
 the basic building blocks of rocks.
Do you consider water a
mineral?
How about tube ice?
Or snowflake?
 VIDEO TIME!!!
What properties are observed in
order to identify and to classify
the minerals found on rocks?
Describe those properties.
 PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
 hardness
 luster
 breakage (fracture or cleavage)
 streak color
 crystal form/habit
 specific gravity
 other characteristics (taste, odor, magnetism)
 HARDNESS
 Itis a measure of the resistance of a
mineral (not specifically surface) to
abrasion.
 A hardness scale designed by German
geologist/ mineralogist Friedrich Mohs in
1812 (Mohs’ Scale of Hardness) is used to
test hardness of rocks and minerals.
Mohs, Scale
of Hardness
The test compares the
resistance of a mineral
relative to the 10
reference minerals with
known hardness by
scratching it with
common objects of
known hardness
 Mineral
Hardness
Test at Home
You may perform
this test at home
using common
materials.
 Mohs’ Scale of Hardness Test
PROS CONS
Easy to do the test The scale is qualitative and not
quantitative
Can be done anywhere, anytime Cannot be used to test accurate
as long as the place is not dark hardness of industrial materials
Moh’s scale is highly relevant for
field geologists to roughly identify
minerals using scratch kits
Can be done without or few kits –
handy
a. Metallic – generally
opaque and exhibit a LUSTER
it is the
resplendent quality
shine
similar to a polished
and intensity
metal
b. Non-metallic –
of reflected
vitreous (glassy),
light exhibited
adamantine(brilliant/
diamond-like), resinous,
by pearly,
silky, the mineral
dull
(earthy), greasy, etc.
 LUSTER
 Metallic:having the look of a polished metal
 Submetallic: having the look of metal that is
dulled by weathering
 NONMETALLIC LUSTER
 Adamantine: having a hard, sparkly look of a diamond
 Resinous: having a look of yellow, dark orange, or
brown that is slightly reflective
 Vitreous: having the look of glass
 Pearly: having the look of a pearl
 Greasy: having the look of an oil coated surface
 Dull: having a plain looking surface
 Earthy: having the look of soil or clay
 Silky: having the look of fine, parallel fibers
 COLOR VS STREAK
 Color maybe a unique identifying property of
certain minerals (e.g. malachite –green, azurite –
blue
 There are also lots of minerals that share similar or the
same color/s.
 In addition, some minerals can exhibit a range of
colors. The mineral quartz for example, can be pink
(rose quartz), purple (amethyst), orange (citrine),
white (colorless quartz) etc.
 COLOR VS STREAK
 Streak on the other hand is the color of a mineral
in powdered form.
 the color of a mineral could be different from the
streak. For example, pyrite (FeS2) exhibits golden
color (hence the other term of pyrite which is
Fool’s Gold) but has a black or dark gray streak.
 Streak is a better diagnostic property as
compared to color. Streak is inherent to almost
every mineral.
STREAK TEST
 CRYSTAL FORM/HABIT
Minerals
It
The
Theis the natural
that
external
form do not
shape
reflects of
the
a crystal
shape
have orthe
aof
supposedly groups
crystal of
internal
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mineralisbefore
structure displayed
is the/
(of atoms
observed
development
described as these
as of
and ions) of the
crystals
any
amorphous.grow in open
cleavage or
crystal (mineral).
spaces.
fracture.
BREAKAGE

Cleavage or Fracture
 CLEAVAGE
 isthe property of some minerals to break
along parallel repetitive planes of weakness to
form smooth, flat surfaces.
 These planes of weakness are inherent in the
bonding of atoms that makes up the mineral.
 These planes of weakness are parallel to the
atomic planes and appear to be repeating
within the mineral.
 CLEAVAGE
Crystal habit is different from cleavage.
Although both are dictated by crystal
structure, crystal habit forms as the mineral is
growing, therefore relies on how the
individual atoms in the crystal come
together. Cleavage on the other hand is the
weak plane that developed after the crystal
is formed.
CLEAVAGE
 FRACTURE
Some minerals may not have cleavages
but exhibit broken surfaces that are
irregular and non-planar. Quartz for
example has an inherent weakness in the
crystal structure that is not planar.
Examples of fracture are conchoidal,
fibrous, hackly, and uneven among others.
FRACTURE
 SPECIFIC GRAVITY
It is the ratio of the weight of a mineral to the
weight of an equal volume of water. A
bucket of silver (SG 10) would weigh 10 times
more than a bucket of water (SG 1). It is a
measure to express the density (mass per
unit volume) of a mineral. The specific
gravity of a mineral is numerically equal to
density
SPECIFIC GRAVITY
Other Properties
There are certain unique properties of
minerals that actually help in their
identification (e.g. magnetism, odor, taste,
tenacity, reaction to acid, etc.). Magnetite
is strongly magnetic; sulfur has distinctive
smell; halite is salty; calcite fizzes with acid
as with dolomite but in powdered form.
 Chemical Classification
1. Silicates – minerals containing 2 of the
most abundant elements in the Earth’s
crust, namely, silicon and oxygen. When
linked together, these two elements form
the silicon oxygen tetrahedron – the
fundamental building block of silicate
minerals. Over 90% of the rock-forming
minerals belong to this group.
 Chemical Classification
2. Oxides – minerals containing Oxygen anion
(O2-) combined with one or more metal ions
3. Sulfates – minerals containing Sulfur and
Oxygen anion (SO4)- combined with other ions
4. Sulfides – minerals containing sulfur anion (S2)-
combined with one or more ions. Some sulfides
are sources of economically important metals
such as copper, lead and zinc.
 Chemical Classification
5. Native Elements – minerals that form as individual
elements
a. Metals and Inter-metals – minerals with high
thermal and electrical conductivity, typically with
metallic luster, low hardness (gold, lead)b.
b. Semi-metals – minerals that are more fragile than
metals and have lower conductivity (arsenic,
bismuth)
c. Nonmetals – nonconductive (sulfur, diamond)
 Chemical Classification
6. Carbonates – minerals containing the
carbonate anion (CO3)2- combined with
other elements
7. Halides – minerals containing halogen
elements combined with one or more
elements
CHEMICAL CLASSIFICATION