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Minerals: Building Blocks of Rocks

The document summarizes key concepts about minerals: Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. They are natural, inorganic solids with a definite chemical composition and orderly internal structure. Atoms are the basic building blocks of minerals and combine to form elements, isotopes, and compounds. Minerals have physical properties like crystal form, luster, hardness, and cleavage. The most common mineral group is silicates, which contain silicon and oxygen atoms arranged in tetrahedra. Major mineral groups include silicates, oxides, sulfides, carbonates, and native elements. Mineral resources are economically important deposits used for construction and industry.

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Lesly Ann Pauline Manaoat
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148 views33 pages

Minerals: Building Blocks of Rocks

The document summarizes key concepts about minerals: Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. They are natural, inorganic solids with a definite chemical composition and orderly internal structure. Atoms are the basic building blocks of minerals and combine to form elements, isotopes, and compounds. Minerals have physical properties like crystal form, luster, hardness, and cleavage. The most common mineral group is silicates, which contain silicon and oxygen atoms arranged in tetrahedra. Major mineral groups include silicates, oxides, sulfides, carbonates, and native elements. Mineral resources are economically important deposits used for construction and industry.

Uploaded by

Lesly Ann Pauline Manaoat
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Minerals: Building

Blocks of Rocks
Chapter 2
Minerals: the building
blocks of rocks
❖ Definition of a mineral
• Natural
• Inorganic
• Solid
• Possess an orderly internal structure of atoms
• Have a definite chemical composition
❖Mineraloid - lacks an orderly internal
structure
Composition and
structure of minerals
❖ Elements
• Basic building blocks of minerals
• Over 100 are known
❖ Atoms
• Smallest particles of matter
• Have all the characteristics of an element
Periodic table of the Elements
How atoms are constructed
❖Nucleus – central part of an atom that
contains
• Protons – positive electrical charges
• Neutrons – neutral electrical charges
❖ Energy levels, or shells
• Surround nucleus
• Contain electrons – negative electrical charges
Simplified view of the atom
How atoms are constructed
❖Atomic number is the number of protons in
an atom's nucleus
❖ Bonding of atoms
• Forms a compound with two or more elements
• Ions are atoms that gain or lose electrons
❖ Isotopes
• Have varying number of neutrons
How atoms are constructed
❖ Isotopes
• Have different mass numbers – the sum of the
neutrons plus protons
• Many isotopes are radioactive and emit energy
and particles
Minerals
❖ Physical properties of minerals
• Crystal form
• Luster
• Color
• Streak
• Hardness
• Cleavage
The mineral quartz often
exhibits good crystal form
Pyrite (fool’s gold)
displays metallic luster
Mohs scale
of hardness
Three examples of perfect
cleavage – fluorite, halite,
and calcite
Minerals
❖ Physical properties of minerals
• Fracture
• Specific gravity
• Other properties
• Taste
• Smell
• Elasticity
• Malleability
Conchoidal fracture
Minerals
❖ Physical properties of minerals
• Other properties
• Feel
• Magnetism
• Double Refraction
• Reaction to hydrochloric acid
Minerals
❖A few dozen minerals are called the rock-
forming minerals
• The eight elements that compose most rock-
forming minerals are oxygen (O), silicon (Si),
aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), sodium
(Na), potassium (K), and magnesium (Mg)
• Most abundant atoms in Earth's crust are
oxygen (46.6% by weight) and silicon (27.7%
by weight)
Composition of continental crust
Minerals
❖ Mineral groups
• Rock-forming silicates
• Most common mineral group
• Contain the silicon-oxygen tetrahedron (molecule)
• Four oxygen atoms surrounding a much smaller
silicon atom
• Combines with other atoms to form the various
silicate structures
The silicate (SiO4)-4 molecule
Minerals
❖ Mineral groups
• Rock-forming silicates
• Groups based upon tetrahedral arrangement
• Olivine – independent tetrahedra
• Pyroxene group – tetrahedra are arranged in
chains
• Amphibole group – tetrahedra are arranged in
double chains
Hornblende – a member of
the amphibole group
Minerals
❖ Mineral groups
• Rock-forming silicates
• Groups based upon tetrahedral arrangement
• Micas – tetrahedra are arranged in sheets
• Two types of mica are biotite (dark) and
muscovite (light)
• Feldspars - Three-dimensional network of
tetrahedra
Minerals
❖ Mineral groups
• Rock-forming silicates
• Groups based upon tetrahedral arrangement
• Feldspars
• Two types of feldspar are Orthoclase and
Plagioclase
• Quartz – three-dimensional network of
tetrahedra
Potassium feldspar
Plagioclase feldspar
Minerals
❖ Mineral groups
• Rock-forming silicates
• Feldspars are the most plentiful mineral group
• Crystallize from molten material
• Nonsilicate minerals
• Major groups
• Oxides
• Sulfides
Minerals
❖ Mineral groups
• Nonsilicate minerals
• Major groups
• Sulfates
• Carbonates
• “Native” elements
Native Copper
Minerals
❖ Mineral groups
• Nonsilicate minerals
• Carbonates
• A major rock-forming group
• Found in the rocks limestone and marble
• Halite and gypsum are found in sedimentary rocks
• Many have economic value
Minerals
❖ Mineral resources
• Reserves are already identified deposits
• Ores are useful metallic minerals that can be
mined at a profit
• Economic factors may change and influence a
resource
An underground halite (salt) mine
End of Chapter 2

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