This document discusses minerals and their properties. It defines minerals as natural, inorganic solids with an internal atomic structure and definite chemical composition. Minerals are composed of elements, whose atoms bond together through ionic, covalent, or metallic bonds. The document outlines several key mineral groups including silicates, oxides, sulfides, carbonates, and halides. It notes that silicates are the most abundant mineral group in the Earth's crust and describes their tetrahedral structures. The document also discusses physical properties of minerals like hardness, luster, and cleavage. Finally, it distinguishes between renewable and nonrenewable natural resources, with minerals being nonrenewable.

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Matter and Minerals
Chapter 2 Lecture
Jennifer Mangan
James Madison University
Earth Science
Fourteenth Edition, Global Edition

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• Definition of a mineral
– Natural
– Inorganic
– Solid
– Possess an orderly internal structure of atoms
– Have a definite chemical composition
• Rock – any naturally occurring solid mass of mineral
or mineral-like matter
Minerals: Building Blocks of Rocks

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Rocks are Aggregates of Minerals

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• Atoms
– Smallest particles of matter
Atoms: Building Blocks of Minerals

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• Nucleus – central part of an atom that contains
– Protons – positive electrical charges
– Neutrons – neutral electrical charges
• Electron shells
– Surround nucleus
– Contain electrons – negative electrical charges
Atomic Structure

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Atomic Structure

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• Atomic number
– Number of protons in an atom’s nucleus.
• Ions
– Positively or negatively charged atoms due to electron gain
or loss
Atoms

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• Elements
– Basic building blocks of minerals
– Over 100 are known
– Defined by their number of protons
– Groups of the same type of atoms
Composition and Structure of Minerals

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Periodic table of the elements

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• Valence shell
– An atom’s outermost shell
• Octet rule
– Atoms gain, lose, or share electrons until their valence shells
have 8 electrons
• Chemical bond
– Transfer or sharing of electrons to achieve full valence shell
Atomic Bonding

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Atomic Bonding
• Ionic bond
– Atoms bond together when oppositely charged ions attract

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• Covalent bond
– Sharing of a pair of electrons between atoms
Atomic Bonding

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• Metallic bond
– Packed metal atoms have valence electrons free to
move throughout the structure.
Atomic Bonding

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• Physical properties of minerals
– Habit – common crystal shape
– Luster – appearance in reflected light
– Color
– Streak – color of mineral in powdered form
– Hardness – ability to resist scratching or abrasion
– Cleavage – tendency to break along planes of weak bonding
Minerals

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Metallic Luster: Galena

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Color
• Color can be unreliable due to variations.

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Streak

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Crystal Shape, or Habit: Pyrite

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Hardness: Mohs Scale

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Cleavage: Micas

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• Physical properties of minerals
– Fracture – random pattern of breakage
– Specific gravity – mineral density
– Tenacity – resistance to cutting, breaking, bending, and
deformation
Minerals

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Conchoidal fracture

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• Other properties
– Taste
– Smell
– Elasticity
– Malleability
– Double refraction
– Magnetism
– Feel
– Reaction with hydrochloric acid
Minerals

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• Rock-forming minerals
– Only a few dozen
– Most abundant atoms in Earth’s crust are oxygen (46.6% by
weight) and silicon (27.7% by weight)
Mineral Groups

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• Eight elements compose most rock-forming minerals:
– oxygen (O),
– silicon (Si),
– aluminum (Al)
– iron (Fe)
– calcium (Ca)
– sodium (Na)
– potassium (K)
– magnesium (Mg)
Mineral Groups

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Composition of Continental Crust

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• Rock-forming silicates
– Most common mineral group
– Contain the silicon-oxygen
tetrahedron
• Four oxygen atoms
surrounding a much smaller
silicon atom
• Combines with other atoms to
form the various silicate
structures
Mineral Groups

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• 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
Mineral Groups

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Hornblende: An Amphibole

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• 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
Mineral Groups

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• Rock-forming silicates
– Groups based upon tetrahedral arrangement
• Feldspars – most abundant group of minerals in Earth’s crust
• Quartz – three-dimensional network of tetrahedra
Mineral Groups

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Potassium feldspar

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Rose Quartz

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• Nonsilicate minerals – major groups
– Oxides
– Sulfides
– Carbonates
– Halides
– Native elements
Mineral Groups

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Common Nonsilicate Mineral Groups

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• 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

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• Renewable
– Can be replenished in relatively short time spans
• Corn, wind, water, etc.
• Nonrenewable
– Earth has fixed quantities
• Oil, aluminum, natural gas, coal
Natural Resources

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• Mineral resources
– Mineral resources are occurrences of useful minerals that
will eventually be extracted
– Ore deposits are concentrations of metallic minerals that can
be mined at a profit
– Economic factors may change and influence a resource
Natural Resources

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Copper Mining