Earth Science :

Minerals And
rocks
Geosphere

Landforms
Earth Rocks
minerals
Building blocks of
rocks.

Granite (Igneous rock)

ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
Criteria 1:
The substance must
exist as solid under
normal conditions
on earth.
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
Criteria 2:
The substance must
be naturally-
occurring on earth.
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
Criteria 3:
The substance must
be inorganic.
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
Criteria 4:
The substance must
have fixed chemical
formula, made of
specific elements.
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
Criteria 5:
The atoms that
make up a
substance must be
arrange in an
orderly structure.
ACTIVITY
In a sheet of paper, write the words that you think
are minerals.
Diamond Emerald Silver
Glass Gold Alcohol
Sugar Snowflake Rock Salt
Coal Ice cube Granite
Water Graphite Quartz
Wood Pearl Carbon dioxide
Earth’s crust
 How do minerals form?
There are 2 ways that crystals form:

• The cooling of hot, liquid rock called

magma causes compounds to
combine

• Magma cools slowly= crystals are large

• Magma cools quickly= crystals are small

• The evaporation of water that has

minerals dissolved in it
Silicates Non-silicates
a compound of iron and
Composed of silicon sulfur well known for its
and oxygen deceptive metallic luster.

Major-rock forming Oxides, Sulfides, Sulfates,

minerals Halides, Carbonates, and
native metals
Silicates Non-silicates

Quartz Olivine Pyrite Galena

Pyroxene

Mafic
Silicates
 Felsic
Silicates
BASIS FOR COMPARISON METALLIC MINERALS NON-METALLIC MINERALS
Meaning Metallic minerals refers to the Non-metallic minerals implies
minerals that comprise of the minerals, that do not have
metals in raw form. minerals in them.

Found in Igneous and metamorphic Sedimentary rocks

rocks
New product New product can be obtained No new product is obtained
from it, on melting. from it, on melting.

Heat and electricity Good conductors of heat and
electricity
Malleability and ductility These are malleable and
ductile.
Luster They have luster
Good insulators of heat and
electricity
These lack in malleability and
ductility.
They do not have luster
How do we identify Minerals?
• We look at Physical Properties
• These include:
• Color/Appearance
• Luster
• Streak
• Hardness
• Cleavage/Fracture
Physical Properties of Minerals
(can be used to identify the mineral)
Color
• Can be misleading

• Many minerals will have a similar

appearance, but will have
different impurities

• Color and appearance are not

enough to distinguish minerals
 Physical Properties of Minerals
(can be used to identify the mineral)
Luster
• Luster refers to the way a mineral reflects light from its surface
• Metallic = shiny like metal
• Non-metallic = dull, non-shiny surface, can include pearly,
silky, and glassy
• We can also use toher terms such as waxy, pearly, glassy, dull,
and silky
Calcite has a non-
metallic luster
Pyrite has a
metallic luster
 Physical Properties of Minerals
(can be used to identify the mineral)
Streak
• The color of the powdered form of
the mineral
• We find a minerals streak by rubbing
it on a white ceramic plate
• The color of the streak can be
different than the mineral
• Minerals must be softer than the
streak plate
 Physical Properties of Minerals
(can be used to identify the mineral)
Hardness
• How easily a mineral scratches materials
• Mohs Hardness Scale
• Scale from 1 (softest) to 10 (hardest)
• Test by seeing if the mineral can scratch different objects (like human fingernail, copper,
penny, glass, steel file)
 Physical Properties of Minerals
(can be used to identify the mineral)

Cleavage & Fracture

• The way the mineral breaks
• Cleavage—minerals break along
smooth, flat surfaces and every
fragment has the same general
shape
• Fracture—minerals that break at
random with rough or jagged
edges
Properties of Minerals
• Crystal structure:
The arrangement of the atoms of the mineral.
• Isometric/ Cubic
• Tetragonal
• Orthorhombic
• Monoclinic
• Triclinic
• Hexagonal
• Crystal habit:
Outward appearance of the crystal.
• Granular
• Dendritic-
• Fibrous
• Acicular
• Micaceous
• Prismatic
 Specific gravity
relates the mineral mass to the mass of an
equal volume of water, namely the density of the
material.
• Other properties:
• Fluorescence
• Magnetism
• Radioactivity
• Tenacity - response to mechanical induced
changes of shape or form
 Physical Properties of Minerals
(can be used to identify the mineral)
Short assessment:
1. What are the 5 criteria to be classified as minerals?
2. How are minerals identified?
3. It refers to the color powdered form of minerals?
4. What is used to determine the hardness of a mineral?
5. What are the different crystal structure?
6. How are minerals formed?