Minerals Mrs. Fritts 7 th Grade Science

Fluorite Fluorite is used in: Toothpaste “Fluoride” Pottery Ceramics Paint Pigment

Halite (Rock Salt) Evaporation of lakes, seas Commonly recognized as salt, halite is used in human and animal diet, food seasoning and food preservation Mineral waters Soap Home water softeners Highway de-icer Ice Cream production

Marble Used as stone in building construction and for making decorative items such as pillars, floor and bath tiles, table tops etc.

Talc Softest Baby powder – Astringent for rashes Soapstone Gymnastics to grasp Bars

Copper Conductor Currency Electrical wires Sculptures Computer circuits and chips

Quartz Gemstones Glass manufacturing Radios Computers Electronic equipment – Piezoelectric property – Quartz clock

Diamond Hardest Mineral Cutting tools – Dentist Drill Blades Saws Commercial Items

Mining for Ores A cheap way of locating ore deposit and bringing it to the surface is to blast away the soil and rock which is called “overburden” Toxins - mercury, arsenic, selenium and lead When gold is extracted, it is crushed and sprayed with cyanide, which bonds with the gold. Cyanide then leaches. A dose of cyanide the size of a grain of rice is enough to kill a human while one millionth of a gram per liter of water is enough to kill fish.

The damage to land after a large-scale mining operation has finished is devastating and leaves the landscape so polluted that it cannot properly sustain life for thousands of years.

Mineral ID Lab Introduction Performing Two Physical Property Tests – Hardness Test – Streak Test Use these two tests to identify a mineral

Streak Test Often, minerals have a different color streak than the original color of the mineral. Test the streak of the minerals with a Streak Plate and write down the streak you see. Also, identify the color of the mineral Sometimes minerals have the same color and streak, so geologists use another test….

Color and Streak Test Identifying six minerals using color and streak- – Garnet – Olivine – Red Hematite – Malachite – Magnetite – Hornblende

Example Table NumberNameColorStreak GarnetRedWhite OlivineGreenWhite

Hardness Test 1 = Talc 2 = Gypsum 3 = Calcite 4 = Fluorite 5 = Apatite 6 = Feldspar 7 = Quartz 8 = Topaz 9 = Corundium 10 = Diamond Finger Nail = 2.5 Copper Penny = 3.0 Nail = 5.5 Glass Plate = 5.5 Steel File = 6.5 Which minerals can scratch other minerals?