1. What is a Mineral?

2. What is a mineral?
Solid
Not liquid, gas, or plasma

3. What is a mineral?
Naturally-occurring
Not man-made

4. What is a mineral?
Inorganic
Never alive

5. What is a mineral?
Fixed chemical composition: an element or a compound

6. What is a mineral?
Crystal structure: atoms or molecules in an orderly pattern

7. Most minerals are compounds
Quartz: silicon and oxygen
SiO2
Most abundant in earth’s crust
Halite: sodium and chloride
NaCl

8. Examples of minerals
Halite
(rock salt)
Mica
Quartz

9. Not minerals

10. There are more than 2,000 kinds of minerals, but fewer than 20 are common minerals that form rock
10 minerals make up 90% of the earth’s crust

11. 2 Main Types of Minerals
Silicates and Non-Silicates

12. Silicates Contain atoms of silicon (Si) and oxygen (O)
Forms a tetrahedron
Many contain one or more different kinds of atoms
Ex. Feldspar – silicon and oxygen with potassium
SiO2 - Quartz
96% of the crust is made of silicates

13. Non-Silicates: 6 Groups

14. Native Minerals
Made up of single elements
Gold
Copper
Sulfur

15. Halides
Cation: K, Na, or Ca with an Anion: Cl or F –
Halite (NaCl)

16. Sulfides
Contain an S atom
Ex: Pyrite (FeS2) Fools Gold

17. Carbonates Contains CO3 as part of the compound
Ex: Malachite Cu2CO3(OH)2

18. Sulfates
Contains SO4 as part of the compound
Ex: Gypsum CaSO4·2H2O

19. Oxides Contains O atom except for silicates, carbonates, and sulfates
Ex: Hematite Fe2O3