2. What are they?
Minerals are naturally formed inorganic solids with a crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition.
Simple right? It actually kind of is...

3. Naturally Formed
“Natural” things are those that are formed by natural earth processes.

4. Naturally Formed
This is opposed to man-made things

5. Inorganic
Inorganic means it is not now and never has been alive.

6. Solid
This means that under typical conditions on earth, the item is a solid (defined shape and volume)
Not a liquid or a gas.

7. Crystalline Structure
Minerals have crystal structures, which means all of the atoms in a mineral are arranged in an orderly, repetitive pattern.
Kind of like those
key chains.

8. Crystalline Structure
There are different types of crystal structures

9. Definite Chemical Composition
Each mineral has a chemical make-up, or formula. It is made of one or more elements.

10. Definite Chemical Composition
Some minerals are “pure” or made of one element:
Gold, Iron, Silver Sulfur

11. Definite Chemical Composition
Most are made of combinations of elements called compounds.
There are more than 4000 known minerals on earth. Each has it’s own chemical formula, or recipe.
Pyrite: FeS2
Quartz: SiO2

12. Tomorrow
We’ll talk about how to identify minerals, and how they’re used.