QUARTER 1- EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCE - WEEK 2

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, the learners will be able to:
K: Identify several common rock -forming minerals;
S: Describe the different properties of minerals; and A:
Recognize the importance of minerals in our daily

lives.

LEARNING COMPETENCY:

Identify common rock-forming minerals using their physical and

chemical properties. (S11/12ES-Ia-e-9)
What is a mineral?
How is a mineral different from a rock?

 Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. These minerals that are
common and abundant on Earth’s crust are known as rockforming
minerals.
 There are five important characteristics which define a mineral:
 Naturally-occurring (NOT man-made or machine generated)
 Inorganic (not a byproduct of living things)
 Solid (should exhibit stability at room temperature)
 Crystalline structure (looks like crystals since the arrangement
of their atoms is ordered and repetitive) Can be represented
by a chemical formula (most minerals are chemical
compounds and can be represented using a fixed or variable
chemical formula. For example: quartz (SiO2) which indicates
that the mineral quartz contains one silicon atom and two
oxygen atoms).

MINERAL POPERTIES

Minerals can be identified based on physical and chemical properties.

A. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES:

We are going to use halite (table salt) to demonstrate the different

mineral properties.
Mineral Name Halite (table salt)
Chemical composition NaCl
Luster Non-metallic – vitreous; transparent to
translucent
Hardness Soft (2-2.5)
Color White
Streak White
Crystal Form/Habit Cubic
Cleavage Perfect cubic
Specific Gravity Light (2.2)
Other Properties Salty taste; very soluble; produces reddish spark
in flame

1. Luster
 it is the quality and intensity of reflected light exhibited by the
mineral.

a. metallic – generally opaque and exhibit a resplendent shine

similar to a polished metal.

b. non-metallic – vitreous (glassy), adamantine

(brilliant/diamond-like), resinous, silky, pearly, dull (earthy), greasy,
among others.

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 (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Properties-of-
Minerals-Luster-5E-Activity-3959187)

2. Hardness
 it is a measure of the resistance of a mineral (not specifically surface)
to abrasion.

a. German geologist/mineralogist Friedrich Mohs designed the

“Mohs Scale of Hardness”.

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 (https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/friedrich-mohs.html)

b. The “Mohs Scale of Hardness” measures the scratch resistance of

various minerals from a scale of 1 to 10, based on the ability of a
harder material/mineral to scratch a softer one.

c. Advantages of Mohs scale:

i. The test is easy.
ii. The test can be done anywhere, anytime, as long as there is
sufficient light to see scratches.
iii. The test is convenient for field geologists with scratch kits who
want to make a rough identification of minerals outside the lab.

d. Disadvantages of Mohs scale:

i. The scale is qualitative, not quantitative.

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ii. The test cannot be used to accurately test the hardness of
industrial materials.

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 (https://www.nps.gov/articles/mohs-hardness-scale.htm) Big
Idea:
• If you will be able to scratch a mineral using your finger nail,
then its hardness is around 1 – 2.5.

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 • If you will be able to scratch a mineral using a coin, then its
hardness is around 2.5 – 3.5.
• If you will be able to scratch a mineral using a knife or glass
plate, then its hardness is around 3.5 – 5.5.
• If you will be able to scratch a mineral using a steel nail, then its
hardness is around 5.5 -6.5.
• If you will be able to scratch a mineral using a masonry drill,
then its hardness is around 6.5 to 8.5.
• If you will not be able to scratch a mineral using all the
materials mentioned above, then its hardness is around
8.5 – 10.
• From the picture above, we can say that diamonds are the
hardest and talc is the least hard.
3. Crystal Form/Habit
 The external shape of a crystal or groups of crystals is
displayed/observed as these crystals grow in open spaces.
 The form reflects the supposedly internal structure (of atoms and
ions) of the crystal (mineral)
 It is the natural shape of the mineral before the development of any
cleavage or fracture.
 Examples include: prismatic, tabular, bladed, platy, reniform, and
equant.
 A mineral that do not have a crystal structure is described as
amorphous.

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(http://www.geologyin.com/2019/10/crystal-habits-and-forms.html)

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4. Color and Streak
 A lot of minerals can exhibit same or similar colors. Individual minerals
can also display a variety of colors resulting from impurities and also
from some geologic processes like weathering.
 Examples of coloring: quartz can be pink (rose quartz), purple
(amethyst), orange (citrine), white (colorless quartz) etc.

(https://openpress.usask.ca/physicalgeology/chapter/5-6-mineral-properties-2/)

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 Streak on the other hand, is the mineral’s color in powdered form. It
is inherent in almost every mineral, and is a more diagnostic property
compared to color. Note that the color of a mineral can be different
from its streak.
 Examples of streak: pyrite (FeS2) exhibits gold color but has a black or
dark gray streak.

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(https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/1005344/view/pyrite-streak-
test)

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5. Cleavage
 The property of some minerals to break along specific planes of
weakness to form smooth, flat surfaces.

a. These planes exist because the bonding of atoms making up

the mineral happens to be weak in those areas.

b. When minerals break evenly in more than one direction,

cleavage is described by the number of cleavage directions, the
angle(s) at which they meet, and the quality of cleavage (e.g.
cleavage in 2 directions at 90o).

c. Cleavage is different from habit; the two are distinct, unrelated

properties. Although both are dictated by crystal structure, crystal
habit forms as the mineral is growing, relying on how the individual
atoms in the crystal come together. Cleavage, meanwhile, is the
weak plane that developed after the crystal is formed.

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 (http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/grocha/mineral
/cleavage.html)

6. Specific Gravity
 The ratio of density of the mineral and the density of water.
 This parameter indicates how many times more the mineral weighs
compared to an equal amount of water (SG 1).

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 For example, a bucket of silver (SG 10) would weigh ten times more
than a bucket of water.

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 (https://www.rocksmins.com/products/physical-properties-used-
toidentify-minerals-collections/minerals-specific-gravity-collection)
7. Others
 Magnetism
 Odor  Taste
 Tenacity
 Reaction to acid
For example, magnetite is strongly magnetic; sulfur has distinctive smell;
halite is salty; calcite fizzes with acid as with as with dolomite but in
powdered form.

Although physical properties are useful for mineral identification, some

minerals may exhibit a wide range of properties. Minerals, like many other
things, can also be categorized based on their chemical compositions:
Silicates, Oxides, Sulfates, Sulfides, Carbonates, Native elements, and
Halides.

B. CHEMICAL PROPERTIES:

1. Silicates
 Minerals containing the two most abundant elements in the Earth’s
crust, namely, silicon and oxygen.
 When linked together, these two elements form the silicon oxygen
tetrahedron – the fundamental building block of silicate minerals.

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  Over 90% of rock-forming minerals belong to this group.

2. Oxides
 Minerals composed of oxygen anion (O2-) combined with one or
more metal ions.

3. Sulfates
 Minerals containing sulfur and oxygen in the form of the (SO 4)- anion.

4. Sulfides
 Minerals containing sulfur and a metal; some sulfides are sources of
economically important metals such as copper, lead, and zinc.

5. Carbonates
 Minerals containing the carbonate (CO3)2- anion combined with
other elements.

6. Native elements
 Minerals that formed as individual elements.

a. metals and intermetals – minerals with high thermal and electrical

conductivity, typically with metallic luster, low hardness (gold,
lead)

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 b. semi-metals – minerals that are more fragile than metals and have
lower conductivity (arsenic, bismuth).

c. nonmetals – nonconductive (sulfur, diamond)

7. Halides
 Minerals containing halogen elements combined with one or more
metals.

The table below shows the summary of mineral group categorization

based on their chemical compositions.
Element Element Element + Element + Element Element + Element
+ SiO O SO +S +
CO 3 Halogens

Native Silicate Oxide Sulfate Sulfide Carbonate Halide

Gold Quartz Hematite Gypsum Pyrite Calcite Chlorine
Bismuth Olivine Magnetite Barite Galena Dolomite Fluorine
Diamond Talc Chromite Anhydrite Bornite Malachite Halite

The elements listed below comprise almost 99% of the minerals making up
the Earth’s crust.
Element Symbol % by weight of % atoms
Earth’s crust

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Oxygen O 46.6 62.6
Silicon Si 27.7 21.2
Aluminum Al 8.1 6.5
Iron Fe 5.0 1.9
Calcium Ca 3.6 1.9
Sodium Na 2.8 2.6
Potassium K 2.6 1.4
Magnesium Mg 2.1 1.8
All other 1.4 <0.1
elements

PERFORMANCE AND WRITTEN TASKS:

A. List five minerals and their common uses. Identify and describe the
specific property/properties that make(s) the mineral suitable for those
uses. For example, graphite, having a black streak and hardness of 1-2,
is used in pencils due to its ability to leave marks on paper and other
objects. Three (3) points for each correct item.

Mineral name Properties Common uses

1.
2.

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3.
4.
5.

B. Write a short essay on the importance of minerals in our lives.

Grading criteria: Content--------------- 5 points
Cohesiveness------- 5 points
Total-------------------- 10 points

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