Mineral vs Mineraloid

1. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
MINERAL AND
MINERALOID

2.  Mineral is a naturally occurring, solid, inorganic
substance with definite crystal structure and must have
a definite chemical composition.
What is Mineral?
Figure: Mineral (Pyrite and Quartz)

3. Mineral must have Five properties :
 Naturally Occurring - Minerals are found on Earth and
not man-made,
 Inorganic - Minerals must not consist of living materials,
 Solid - Minerals must have a definite shape and volume,
 Crystal Structure - Particles inside minerals form a
crystal pattern,
 Definite Chemical Composition - Minerals are made up
of elements from periodic table.
What is Mineral?

4.  A mineraloid is a mineral-like substance that does
not demonstrate crystallinity.
 Mineraloids possess chemical compositions that
vary beyond the generally accepted ranges for
specific minerals.
 For example, Obsidian is an amorphous glass
but not a crystal.
What is Mineraloid?

5.  A material must meet the following five requirements
- naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, ordered atomic
structure, definite chemical composition (can vary
within a limited range) whereas
A mineraloid is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid
that does not exhibit crystallinity.
Moreover, mineral become mineraloid when any of
the five properties got missed.
Mineral vs Mineraloid

6.  Mineraloid may have the outward appearance of
a mineral, but it does not have the “ordered atomic
structure” required to meet the definition of a
mineral.
 Some mineraloids lack the “definite chemical
composition” required to be a mineral.
 Minerals are “crystalline.” In other words, they
have an ordered atomic structure whereas
mineraloids are “amorphous.” This means that their
internal atomic structure is not ordered.
Mineral vs Mineraloid

7.  For example, Olivine, Pyroxene, Muscovite,
Biotite, Calcite and others are the examples of
minerals whereas Obsidian is a mineraloid which is
a volcanic glass and Pumice, Opal etc. are the
mineraloid as well.
 Mineraloids can be liquid; Water and mercury are
often classified as mineraloids whereas mineral
must be a solid.
Mineral vs Mineraloid

8. Images of Mineraloid
Figure: Water
Figure: Obsidian
Figure: Opal

9. Images of Minerals

10.  https://geology.com/minerals/mineraloids/
 https://socratic.org/questions/what-are-5-properties-
of-minerals
 http://www.geologyin.com/2017/11/what-is-
difference-between-mineral-and.html
References