Find your birthstone

What did you have for breakfast this morning? What is found in our food that makes it healthy?

Do you take a multivitamin? Why? What does it have in it?

Minerals!!!! An introduction to the world of minerals

Minerals There are over 3,000 kinds of minerals, only about 30 are common, the rest are rare.

Minerals-What are they? Minerals are the building blocks of rocks.

Minerals-What are they? Minerals can be rare and beautiful.

Minerals-What are they? Minerals can be useful in objects and for our health.

Minerals-Where are they found? Minerals exist all over the world

Minerals-Where are they found? Minerals are formed as rocks or left behind after water has evaporated away.

Mineral Characteristics To be a mineral, the substance must have all of the five following characteristics:

Characteristics of a Mineral 1.All minerals are made naturally by the Earth.

Mineral Characteristics 2. Minerals are inorganic. They are not made by and do not contain living or once living things.

Mineral Characteristics 3. Minerals are always a solid. YES!!!

Mineral Characteristics 4.Minerals have an orderly arrangement of repeating atom patterns. (crystals)

Mineral Characteristics More Mineral shapes:

Mineral Characteristics 5.Minerals have a definite chemical composition. (a specific recipe) For example, diamonds are always made of Carbon (C) only. Salt is always made of Sodium and Chloride (NaCl)

Mineral Characteristics A summary: Naturally formed Inorganic Solid Contains a repeating pattern of atoms Definite chemical composition

Am I a mineral??? A Review Quiz

1. Am I a mineral? A Glacier

2. Am I a mineral? A Gold Nugget

3. Am I a mineral? A Sea Shell

4. Am I a mineral? A Quartz Crystal

5. Am I a mineral? A Raindrop

6. Am I a mineral? A diamond still embedded in a rock

7. Am I a mineral? A Fossil

8. Am I a mineral? A lump of coal

9. Am I a mineral? Man-made diamonds

10. Am I a mineral? Iron Pyrite (Fool’s Gold)

11. Am I a mineral? A Snowflake

12. Am I a mineral? An Ice Cube

Answers

1. Am I a mineral? A Glacier Yes!

2. Am I a mineral? A Gold Nugget Yes!

3. Am I a mineral? A Sea Shell No-made by a living thing

4. Am I a mineral? A Quartz Crystal Yes!

5. Am I a mineral? A Raindrop No-not a solid

6. Am I a mineral? A diamond still embedded in a rock Yes!

7. Am I a mineral? A Fossil No-was once a living thing

8. Am I a mineral? A lump of coal No-was once a living thing (plants)

9. Am I a mineral? Man-made diamonds No-not naturally made

10. Am I a mineral? Iron Pyrite (Fool’s Gold) Yes!

11. Am I a mineral? A Snowflake Yes!

12. Am I a mineral? An Ice Cube No-not naturally made

The End

Homework Corrections 5 characteristics shared by all minerals: Naturally formed Inorganic Solid Contains a repeating pattern of atoms Definite chemical composition

Gems Gems are valuable because they are rare and beautiful.

Most gems are a special variety of a particular mineral, but they are clearer, brighter, or more colorful than the common sample. Common variety Gem quality variety

TOPAZ – Rough direct from mine and professionally cut and “heated treated” by jeweler to bring out the blue color. PERIDOT – Rough direct from mine and professionally cut by jeweler.

Gems (like the ruby and sapphire) and the common form (corundum) of the same mineral may have only small chemical differences. Traces of iron in quartz (left) give amethyst (right) its valuable purple color.

Corundum Corundum is a very hard mineral (hardness 9); In its rare pure form, corundum is colorless and called white sapphire. Rubies contain chromic oxide, blue sapphires contain titanium along with ferrous oxide, and yellow sapphires contain ferric oxide.

Famous Gems The intense orange phosphorescence of the Hope Diamond is only visible in a dark room after exposure to ultraviolet light. One of the diamonds surrounding the Hope is phosphorescing blue. Photograph by John Nels Hatleberg.

530 carat “Star of Africa” diamond ds.tripod.com/

carat black diamond

726 carats (rough) Jonker diamond 125 carats (cut)

The Black Star Sapphire of Queensland Australia 733 carats of black sapphire, 35 diamonds Was for sale in 2002 for $100 million dollars Was found by a 14 year old and originally used as a doorstop

Gems are valued based on the 4 C’s: Color, Cut, Clarity, and Carats Color Clarity Cut Smithsonian recent acquisitions

Color

Color-saturation Color can range from light to dark. A gem is more valuable the closer its color is to the true color (not pale or so dark it is black). Some gems will even have different color saturation levels within them.

Natural Diamond Colors

Cut This poorly-cut lemon citrine is windowed. Notice you can read the underlying text through the gem's centre.

The cut can greatly enhance a gem’s appearance. The lime citrine (left) is slightly windowed and very poorly cut. The same gemstone has been recut (right) Notice the ‘fogginess’ of the gem before recut, the small window in the middle and lack of symmetry.

The best cut is selected for each gem based on its starting shape. Rough uncut diamonds

Skilled gem cutters will follow specific patterns

Clarity-how clear it is

Diamond with Garnet Solid inclusions may be the same gem type as the host, or different like the garnet in this diamond. This emerald–cut quartz from Brazil has a blue anatase crystal inclusion as well as needle-like inclusions of rutile. In this specimen, we can see the anatase inclusion seemingly floating in this clear quartz gem. Anatase is a form of titanium dioxide and is usually found as small, isolated, well- developed crystals.

Thousands of needlelike mineral inclusions create a star-like pattern or cat’s eye pattern (asterism) when the stone is cut properly

Rounds Squares Ovals SizeWeightSizeWeightSizeWeight 1.6 mm.02 carat5 mm.75 carat5 x 3 mm.25 carat 2 mm.03 carat6 mm1.3 carat6 x 4 mm.5 carat 2.5 mm.06 carat7 mm2.05 carat7 x 5 mm1.0 carat 3 mm.10 carat8 mm2.9 carat8 x 6 mm1.5 carat 3.5 mm.16 carat9 mm4.4 carat9 x 7 mm2.5 carat 4 mm.25 carat10 mm6.0 carat10 x 8 mm3.0 carat 4.5 mm.33 carat11 mm8.0 carat11 x 9 mm4.0 carat 5 mm.50 carat12 mm10.35 carat12 x 10 mm5.0 carat 5.5 mm.65 carat13 mm13.2 carat14 x 10 mm6.0 carat 6 mm.75 carat14 mm16.5 carat14 x 12 mm8.0 carat 6.5 mm1.0 carat15 mm20.25 carat16 x 12 mm10.5 carat Carat

Cool Gypsum Crystals-Mexico 1

Gem formation eos/gem-formation/

Rock vs. Mineral w4cpAhttps:// w4cpA

Top 10 expensive gemstones jYew4Ous

Salt MINERAL!

Cement Non-Mineral Man-Made

Wood Non-mineral Not inorganic (from a plant)

Copper MINERAL

Sugar Non-mineral From a plant (not inorganic)

Oxygen Non-mineral Not a solid

Silver MINERAL!

Snowflake MINERAL!

Seashell Non-mineral Made by an animal (not inorganic)

Raindrops Non-mineral Not a solid

Diamonds MINERAL!