UNPACKED ELEMENT DRIVING INSTRUCTION: S6E5b:Look into the role of minerals to rock makeup.
Aug 21, 2015
INTRODUCTION/ DIRECTIONS
Welcome Junior Geologist today we will find out if an object is a rock or mineral!
Your task is to gather as much information about minerals. You must
copy the information in RED but you are not limited to just that (You may gather more information as needed) that is up to you)
LEARNING GOALS
1. Identify properties of minerals and be able to identify certain minerals using specific tests.
2. Apply Moh’s hardness scale to identify minerals.
Question: What methods can we use to identify minerals?
Minerals are most often identified by inspecting their PHYSICAL and
Chemical properties.
A COMPOUND IS…
A substance made from two or more different elements that have been chemically combined.
WHAT IS A MINERAL...
SolidNaturally OccurringInorganicFixed composition, chemical formula
Crystal Structure Form
MINERAL CRYSTALS : A VARIETY OF SHAPES
WHICH REFLECT THE ORDERLY INTERNAL ARRANGEMENT OF ATOMS., IONS, OR MOLECULES CHEMICALLY BONDED.
Minerals are elements or compounds that are found naturally in rocks or soil.All minerals share certain characteristics and have these things in common:Minerals are not found as liquids or gases. They
are all solids.Minerals form naturally. They are not created by people.Minerals form an orderly, repetitive arrangement. The atoms that minerals are made are connected to each other in a pattern. Fluorite often forms beautiful cube-shaped crystals.Each mineral has a unique chemical composition which also means it has its own chemical formula. The chemical formula for fluorite is CaF2 (calcium fluoride).
PROPERTIES OF
MINERALS
USE THE NEXT SLIDES TO ANSWER THE BOTTOM HALF OF THE
PAPER
GEOLOGISTS USE CHARACTERISTICS
TO TELL ONE MINERAL FROM ANOTHER
MINERALS ARE IDENTIFIED BY THEIR KEY
CHARACTERISTICS: USE THE NEXT SLIDES (RED WRITING) TO FILL IN THE ORGANIZER.
1. hardness
2. crystal shape (form)
3. luster
4. color5. streak
6. cleavage/fracture
7. density (specific gravity)
special properties --reaction to acid --fluorescence --salty taste --magnetism
HARDNESS:Is measured by how easy
it is to scratch. By using Moh’s Scale of Hardness
Geologists order the hardness by…
1.Scratched by a fingernail.2.Scratched by a penny. 3.Scratched by a nail. 4.Scratched by a diamond. These are not all of the tools
geologists use,
Mohs Scale of Hardness
Hardest (10) – Diamond
Softest (1) – Talc
Common objects:
- Fingernail (2.5) - Copper penny (3.5) - Wire nail (4.5) - Glass (5.5) - Streak plate (6.5)
Facts:Facts:
MOH’S HARDNESS SCALE
Mohs hardness scale was developed in 1812 by Friedrick Mohs (an Austrian mineral expert) as a method to identify minerals.
This scale uses 10 minerals to represent variations in hardness.
FactsFacts
::
LUSTERRefers to the way light reflects from the surface of the mineral.
There are two types of luster, Metallic: looks like polished metal. Nonmetallic: does not look like polished metal. Nonmetallic can be shiny or dull.
STREAKThe streak of a mineral refers to the ("powder color") left on a streak plate after rubbing a mineral across its surface.
PYRITE OR “FOOL’S GOLD”When pyrite is run across a streak plate, it has a black or dark green streak.
Pyrite is not worth much money, while gold is worth a lot. They look alike, so miners call it fool’s gold.
HEMATITEHematite’s color is grey, but its streak is red. Hema means blood. The mineral was named hematite because it looked like it was bleeding when it was taken across a streak plate.
JUST
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COLOR Most obvious, but often misleading
way to identify a mineral thus it is the least useful because many minerals have similar color.
Different colors may result from impurities or they can change colors in various circumstances. This is because small amounts of different elements can give the same mineral different colors.
CLEAVAGENot all minerals have cleavage.
Some minerals split easily along a flat surface. It’s the way some minerals break along certain lines of weakness in their structure.
Cleavages are described in terms of their quality - how smoothly the mineral breaks - and their difficulty - how easy, or how hard, it is to produce the cleavage.
The number of lines that are created when a mineral is split will be the number of cleavage lines.
GENERAL FACTS ABOUT MINERALS
Between 2 - 3,000 have been identified
A few are “native elements” -- made of only one element, such as sulfur, gold. copper, and graphite (carbon)
Most are compounds, especially the silicate group (Si, O).
Other important groups are oxides, carbonates, and sulfides.