1. Tuesday January 17, 2012 (Minerals – The Building Blocks of Rocks)

2. The Launch Pad Tuesday, 1/17/12 What’s the difference between a mineral and a rock? A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance that is formed through geological processes, and that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. A rock is a mixture of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not have a specific chemical composition.

3. Assignment Currently Open Summative or Formative Date Issued Date Due Date Into Grade Speed Last Day Launch Pads 1/4 - 1/6 F1 1/6 Project: Fossils F2/F3 1/91/13 Lab – Fossils F4 1/12 Quiz 15 S1 1/13

4. Announcements I will not be available after school today. The Project on Fossils is overdue.

5. Latest News http://www.usgs.gov/ne wsroom/article.asp?ID= 3069&from=rss_home

6. Minerals The Building Blocks of Rocks

7. Minerals - The Building Blocks of Rocks o Recall from chemistry that elements and compounds are collectively known as “substances.” o Elements bond together to form “compounds.” o Elements and compounds have a definite chemical formula. o ex.) Elements: Na is sodium and Cl is chlorine. o ex.) Compound: NaCl is sodium chloride, or common table salt. o In geology, we normally call rocky elements and compounds “minerals.” o Sodium chloride is called rock salt, or halite, when we’re discussing minerals.

8. Figure 2.2

9. Minerals - The Building Blocks of Rocks A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance that is formed through geological processes and that has a characteristic chemical composition, a highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock, which we will study later, is an mixture of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not have a specific chemical composition. Minerals range in composition from pure elements and simple salts to very complex silicates with thousands of known forms. The study of minerals is called mineralogy.

10. Figure 2.3

11. Minerals - The Building Blocks of Rocks A mineral is naturally occurring, inorganic, solid in phase, possesses an orderly internal structure of atoms, and has a definite chemical composition. Mineraloids, on the other hand, lack an orderly internal structure. Lechatelierite Fluorite