1. Atoms are the smallest components of nature
with the properties of a given substance.
Electrons (negative charge)
Protons
(positive charge)
Neutrons
(no charge)
Suggested tips to give students:
Protons are “positive”. Neutrons are “neutral”.

2. For any given element:
Atomic Number is the number of protons in the nucleus. Mass Number is the number of neutrons and protons in nucleus.
Suggested tips to give students:
What is the Atomic Number of carbon? (6) What is the Mass Number of carbon? (12)

3. Variations in mass number create Isotopes
Suggested tips to give students:
Iso (equal) tope (place) = same place in Periodic Table of The Elements.
Variations in mass number create Isotopes

4. Atoms bond to achieve a stable electron configuration
Atoms bond to achieve a stable electron configuration. Most atoms bond to achieve 8 electrons in the outer shell - the so-called
“Octet Rule”

5. Variations in electrical charge form Ions negative charge = Anion
positive charge = Cation

6. Minerals are compounds of atoms bonded together
… “to achieve a stable electron configuration” …
IONIC BONDING
Suggested tips to give students:
“Opposites attract”

7. COVALENT BONDING METALLIC BONDING
… “to achieve a stable electron configuration” …
Suggested tips to give students:
“sharing”
METALLIC BONDING
Bonding between atoms within metals. All “free” electrons shared in an “electron sea”.

8. Igneous Minerals crystallize from cooling magma.
Sedimentary Minerals crystallize from dissolved elements in water, or as a product of biological metabolism.
Suggested tips to give students:
Whole chapters devoted to each type coming up!
Metamorphic Minerals recrystallize from existing minerals where conditions in the crust cause high heat and pressure.

9. Magma from three major tectonic settings
Suggested tips to give students:
Where Igneous Minerals are formed - source rock.

10. Oxygen and Silicon are the two most abundant elements in the crust.
Suggested tips to give students:
Oxygen and silicon content is high in minerals that crystallize from melted crustal rock. Minerals that come from the mantle are high in iron.

11. Silica - 4 oxygen atoms surround a single silicon atom, forming (SiO4)4- Each oxygen atom covalently shares 1 electron with the silicon atom, jointly filling its outermost shell.
O2- 2e 8P 6e
Suggested tips to give students:
Atoms in a liquid, either magma or water, arrange in an orderly fashion (due to electrical charges), progressively building crystals. Silica tetrahedron on left. Halite example on right.
Si4+ 8e 2e 4e
14P

13. Types of Silicate Structures
Na+
Ca 2+
Al 3+
Fe 2+ (3+)
Mg 2+
K +
Suggested tips to give students:
Whatever the ultimate crystal structure, by the time a mineral has completed crystallization, it is electrically neutral. Silicate structures are not neutral – still require cations.
Metallic Cations

14. Metallic Cations Join Silicate Structures to Form Neutral Compounds.
Cations of like size and charge substitute within silicate structures.
This forms a wide variety of minerals.
Most substituted Cation pairs are Na+/Ca2+,
Al3+ /Si4+, and Fe2+/Mg2+.
Olivine forms by Single Cation Substitution.
Plagioclase Feldspar forms by Double Cation Substitution.
(Mg2+, Fe2+)2Si4+O2-4

15. Mg2+
Fe2+
Single
Substitution
Ca2+
Na+
Double
Substitution
Si4+
Al3+

16. Olivine: single tetrahedron (SiO4)4-
[Fe22+(Si4+O42-)4-] or [Mg22+(Si4+O42-)4-]
–8 = 0 or –8=0
Fayalite (Fe2SiO4)
Forsterite (Mg2SiO4)
Feldspar: 3-D framework (Si3O8)4-
[Na1+Al3+Si34+O82-]or [Ca2+Al23+Si24+O82-]
–16=0 or –16=0
Albite NaAlSi3O8
Anorthite CaAl2Si2O8

17. There are seven common rock-forming minerals.
Amphibole
Olivine
Pyroxene
Quartz
Suggested tips to give students:
Group names are given to minerals with compositional variation within a particular range. Each mineral within a group has a specific composition. Common irregularities in crystallization or chemical impurities produce the variations.
The Feldspar Group
Orthoclase and Plagioclase
Biotite
Calcite

18. As the Si and O build crystalline structures and the metallic cations play single and double substitution, the entire magma chamber grows into a solid mass of minerals….