OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to

identify common rock-forming minerals using
their physical and chemical properties.

What are the different physical and chemical properties

of minerals?
WHAT IS A MINERAL?
1. inorganic substance in nature: a substance that occurs
naturally in rocks and in the ground and has its own
characteristic appearance and chemical composition
2. mined substance: a naturally occurring substance that is
mined or extracted from the ground
3. matter not animal or vegetable: something that is not
made of animal or vegetable matter (not in technical use)
4. inorganic nutritive substance: an inorganic substance
that must be ingested by animals or plants in order to
remain healthy. Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights
reserved.
Defining a mineral
 A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic solid, with a definite
chemical composition, and an ordered atomic arrangement. This may
seem a bit of a mouthful, but if you break it down it becomes simpler.
 Minerals are naturally occurring
They are not made by humans

 Minerals are inorganic

They have never been alive and are not made up from plants or animals

 Minerals are solids

They are not liquids (like water), or gases (like the air around you)

 Minerals have a definite chemical composition

Each one is made of a particular mix of chemical elements

 Minerals have an ordered atomic arrangement

The chemical elements that make up each mineral are arranged in a
particular way - this is why minerals 'grow' as crystals
ICEBERG
ROCK
IDENTIFICATION OF MINERALS
 An unknown mineral usually can be identified
according to known characteristics of specific minerals
in terms of certain parameters that include its
appearance, its hardness, and the ways it breaks apart
when fractured. Minerals are not to be confused with
rocks, which are typically aggregates of minerals.
There are some 3,700 varieties of mineral, a handful of
which are abundant and wide-ranging in their
application. Many more occur less frequently but are
extremely important within a more limited field of
uses.
Physical Properties of Minerals
 Physical properties are useful when working in the field,
where there is usually no access to complex analytical
techniques. Although a particular mineral has different
forms, the fundamental physical properties are still the
same. Useful physical properties to identify a mineral include
color, streak, luster, specific gravity, hardness, cleavage,
tenacity, and crystal habit.
1. The color of a mineral depends on the elements which
constitute the crystal lattice – the arrangement of atoms, or
groups of atoms, in a specific pattern and with high
symmetry. The reflection of certain wavelengths of light by
the crystal lattice results in the color perceived by the
observer.
2.
CLEAVAGE IS THE TENDENCY OF THE MINERAL TO BE SPLIT
OR BROKEN ALONG FLAT SURFACES(EXTREMELY FLAKY
ROCK CHARACTERISTICS).
5. Hardness is the measure of the resistance of a surface to
abrasions or scratches. It is generally measured using
Mohs Scale of Hardness.

Each mineral on the scale is hard enough to scratch

the one below it in the scale.
Microsoft® Encarta® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Where did the hardness scale originate? ◦
Friedrich Mohs, a German mineralogist,
developed a hardness scale over 100 years ago.
The hardest mineral known, diamond, was
assigned the number 10.

The Mohs Hardness Scale ranks the order of

hardness of minerals and some common objects.

For example, your fingernail can scratch the

minerals talc and gypsum, with a hardness of 2
or lower. A copper penny can scratch calcite,
gypsum, and talc. Fun Fact!: The hardness of a
mineral is known as its “scratchability!”
6. Specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of the mineral
to the weight of the water with an equal volume.

7. Fracture refers to the texture or shape of the mineral’s

surface when the mineral breaks into forms other than
flat surfaces.
8. Tenacity refers to the behavior of the mineral under
deformation or stress such as cutting, crushing, bending,
or hitting.
9. Crystal habit refers to the growth crystal pattern of a
mineral as single or aggregated.
STRUCTURE OF QUARTZ (SIO₂)
Chemical Properties of Minerals
All minerals have a certain arrangement of elements in their
crystal structure. They can be represented by a chemical formula,
which presents the proportions of atoms that constitute them. For
example, the mineral quartz has a chemical formula [%
\mathrm{SiO}_2%]. Its crystal structure is a continuous
framework of silicon-oxygen tetrahedra.
 The chemical properties of minerals depend on their chemical
formula and crystal structure. Solubility and melting point are
chemical properties commonly used to describe a mineral.
1. Solubility refers the ability of a substance to dissolve in a solvent
at a specified temperature. For example, biotite, a mineral
commonly found in igneous rocks, is soluble in both acid and base
solutions. The dissolution releases the loosely-bound potassium
ions in the mineral.
2. Melting point refers to the temperature at which solid
turns into liquid. Minerals composed of atoms that are
tightly bonded within the crystal structure have high melting
points. For example, quartz melts above 1670°C.
 In the laboratory, the composition and crystal structure of
minerals can be analyzed through chemical and instrumental
analysis. Crystallographic techniques such as X-ray
diffraction are performed to determine the crystal structure
of the mineral.
Crystallography is the study of the growth, shape, and
geometric character of crystals. The arrangement of
atoms within a crystal is determined by X-ray
diffraction analysis. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft
Corporation. All rights reserved.
Common Rock-Forming Minerals
The most common rock-forming minerals are quartz,
feldspar, mica, pyroxene, amphibole, and olivine. All of the
following silicate minerals, except for quartz, are mineral
groups.
1. Quartz

Quartz is a glassy looking, transparent or translucent

mineral which varies in colour from white and grey to
smoky. When there are individual crystals they are
generally clear, while in larger masses quartz looks more
milky white. Quartz is hard with a Mohs hardness of 7, it
can easily scratch a steel knife blade, but , it is quite brittle
. In many rocks, quartz grains are irregular in shape
because crystal faces are rare and quartz does not have a
cleavage (ie, it does not break on regular flat faces).
. Feldspar
Feldspar is the other common,
light-coloured rock-forming
mineral. Instead of being glassy
like quartz, it is generally dull to
opaque with a porcelain-like
appearance. Colour varies from
red, pink, and white (orthoclase)
to green, grey and white
(plagioclase).
2 Feldspar is also hard but can be
scratched by quartz. Feldspar in
igneous rocks forms well developed
crystals which are roughly
rectangular in shape, and they
cleave or break along flat faces.
The grains, in contrast to quartz,
often have straight edges and flat
rectangular faces, some of which
meet at right angles.
3. Mica
 Mica is any group of hydrous
potassium aluminum silicate
minerals. The most common
examples are clear muscovite and
black biotite. Mica is soft, with
Mohs hardness ranging from 2 to
2.5. It is easily identified by its
characteristic of peeling into many
thin flat smooth sheets or flakes, a
perfect cleavage, reducing it to
thin smooth flakes. the cleavage
planes are in only one direction and
no right angle face joins occur. Mica
may be white and pearly
(muscovite) or dark and shiny
(biotite). Its shine is responsible
for the flashes of light in rocks such
as granite and slate.
4. Pyroxene
 The most common pyroxene mineral
is augite. Augite is generally dark
green to black in colour and forms
short, stubby crystals which, if you
look at an end-on section, have
square or rectangular cross-sections.
It has a glassy luster with streaks of
white, light green, or light brown. It
is generally black in color and has
stubby prismatic crystals. Its key
feature is its two cleavages at
around 90°.
5. Amphibole
 Amphibole has a dark color
with a Mohs hardness
ranging from 5 to 6.
Hornblende is the most
common amphibole. It has a
glassy luster and an opaque
characteristic. Its crystals
are very long and very thin.

 Hornblende is quite similar

to augite in that both are
dark minerals, however
hornblende crystals are
generally longer, thinner
and shinier than augite and
the mineral cross-sections
are diamond-shaped.
6. Olivine
 Olivine, or peridot in
the jewellery trade, is
yellow-green,
translucent and glassy
looking. Crystals are
not common; it usually
occurs as rounded
grains in igneous rocks
or as granular masses.
Olivine is almost as
hard as quartz; it does
not have a well-
developed cleavage.

Peridot
 OTHER COMMON ROCK-FORMING MINERALS
 Calcite
 Clays: Clay minerals are very fine grained and difficult
to tell apart in the field. They can vary in colour from
white to grey, brown, red, dark green and black. Clays
are plastic and often sticky when wet; they feel smooth
when smeared between the fingers.
 Magnetite

 Pyrite Also known as "fool's gold".

 Talc
DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN MICA MUSCOVITE AND QUARTZ?

The easiest way is to observe how they have broken.

Mica has perfect cleavage in one direction. It produces
very flat surfaces, even on very small pieces. Quartz
has conchoidal fracture and you should see an uneven
or smooth, scalloped fractures on a broken area.

If you are allowed to test for hardness, quartz will

easily scratch glass as it has a hardness of 7, while
muscovite has a hardness of only 2.5. It will not
scratch glass.

If you have a chunk of muscovite to test, you can rub

your fingernail over the edge of the specimen (not the
flat surface). If it is mica it will fray a little.
Silicates like quartz are among the Earth’s most
important natural resources. There would be no
computers, phones, glass, or bricks. All of these
rely on silicate minerals as raw materials. What
other minerals are known to have important uses
like silicates?
SUMMARY
 A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic, solid
material that has a fixed structure and a definite
chemical composition.
 Minerals can be distinguished based on physical and
chemical properties.
 Useful physical properties to identify a mineral include
color, streak, luster, specific gravity, hardness,
cleavage, tenacity, and crystal habit.
 The chemical properties of minerals depend on their
chemical formula and crystal structure. Solubility and
melting point are chemical properties commonly used to
describe a mineral.
 The most common rock-forming minerals are quartz,
feldspar, mica, pyroxene, amphibole, and olivine.
ASSIGNMENT:
Research on the different kinds of minerals found
in common products (e.g. lipstick, glass) that you
use every day.
QUIZ
1. It is the ability of a mineral to resist scratches.
a. Luster b. cleavage
c. Softness d. Hardness
2. What are minerals?
a. A powdery type of rock that is found on the Earth’s crust
b. Solid chemical substances formed in the Earth’s crust
that make up rocks
c. Properties of rocks
d. Any inorganic substance
3. The tendency of a mineral to split easily along a flat
surface is called?
a. Luster b. cleavage
c. Softness d. Hardness
4. Sander found an unknown mineral that has not been reported
before. He observed the behavior of the mineral when he tried to
cut and crush it.
What physical characteristic of the mineral was examined by
Sander?
a. Luster b. Fracture
c. Specific gravity d. Tenacity
5. Hank, together with his colleagues, is in search for a mineral that
is typically black in color. Its crystal form is short and thick, with
two cleavages that are nearly a right angle.
What rock-forming mineral are they looking for?
a. Quartz b. Mica
c. Pyroxene d. Olivine
6. rocks that have been changed under pressure
while deep in the crust of the earth.
a. Metamorphic c. Igneous
b. Extrusive d. Sedimentary
7. Rock is formed when magma cools and makes
crystals.
a. Metamorphic c. Igneous
b. Sedimentary d. Marble
8. Which mineral is glassy looking, transparent or
translucent mineral which varies in colour from
white and grey to smoky.
a. Feldspar c. Mica
b. Quartz d. Igneous
9. It is the tendency of the mineral to be split or
broken along flat surfaces.
a. Hardness c. Tenacity
b. Cleavage d. Streak
10. What is the name of this mineral

a. Olivine b. Mica c. Quartz d. Feldspar

Answer the ff. questions.
1. What are the different criteria to identify a mineral?
2. Discuss the rock cycle.