Minerals Minerals touch our lives in hundreds of ways everyday-we could not live without them!

Minerals

Minerals touch our lives in hundreds of ways everyday-we

could not live without them!

We use minerals to

Growing food, tractors, water pipes, electrical wiring, refrigerator, radio, toaster, lamp, light bulbs, sheets, towels, clothing, make up, fireworks, soap and toothpaste, windows; cereal bowls and dishes, glasses and cups, faucets, doorknobs, electronics; cars, trucks, ships, and railroad cars; bricks, tiles, siding, and houses-Every part of our lives depends on minerals.

We use 2 billion tons of minerals each year in the US. That’s 10 tons of

minerals for every man, woman, & child!

• Minerals must be mined from the Earth.

• But they are nonrenewable resources, so once we use them up, we will have no more to use.

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• There are over 3000 minerals.

• The harder a mineral is to find or get out of the Earth, the more expensive it will be.

• Some pure elements make up minerals. Example: gold, platinum.

• Minerals form everywhere.

How minerals form Through crystallization

of melted materials. (as it cools crystals grow)

Through crystallization of materials dissolved in water. (water evaporates or cools leaving minerals behind)

Generally happens slowly

To be a mineral,

something must be……

naturally occurring

inorganic• It did not come from a living or once living thing

solid

Have a crystalline structure• Symmetrical arrangement

of atoms• Atoms determine structure

which determines all properties about the mineral.

http://electronmicroscopy.org/images/TEM_CrystalAmorphous.png

CrystallineNOT Crystalline

Mineral Properties

Each mineral has its own unique properties. They are used to

identify the mineral.

Color

Luster-ability to reflect light-

metallic nonmetallic

Density

• A measurement of how tightly packed the atoms are.

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http://www.worldometers.info/img/world_population_density.gif

World Population Density

Cleavage OR Fracture-

• ability to be split along a flat surface (weaknesses in bonds)

• when they don’t break apart easily.

Crystal systems-crystal shape, outer appearance, forms

as crystal grows atom by atom.

HardnessA measurement of

how much a mineral resist being scratched

StreakThe color of a

minerals powder

Special Properties

– Fluorescence

– Magnetism– Radioactivity– Reactivity– Conduct

electricity