Unit 4Chapter 2MineralsMr. Cesaire

Martin Van Buren High School

• Aim: What is a mineral? • Do Now: Open to page 96 of the Earth Science

TEXT book and define mineral and write down the characteristics of a mineral in your notes:

• HW: Read pages 47 to 51. Answer questions 1-8 on page 52. WRITE OUT ALL QUESTIONS!

• We will have a weekly quiz based on reading assignments in UPCO. Quiz will be based on pages 47 to 51.

Minerals

• What is a mineral?

• Defined as a naturally occurring inorganic solid substance.

• Where do we find minerals in our environment?

• Minerals are commonly found in rocks, soils, and sand.

Minerals

• Where else in our homes do we find minerals?

• Watches

• Clocks

• Pencils

• Glassware

• Read page 97 of your text and write down the ways minerals are formed in your notes.

Mineral Formation

• How do minerals form?

• Minerals are formed by crystallization:

• 1. Cooling and solidification of magma.

• 2. From water- evaporation, chemical reactions and temperature changes

• 3. Minerals subject to change due to heat and pressure.

Common Minerals

• The back of our reference tables contains information for common rock forming minerals.

• What are some information do the reference tables tell us about minerals?

• Describe the physical and visual properties of Biotite.

Potassium Feldspar• Describe the

properties of Potassium Feldspar.

Halite

• Describe the properties of halite.

• Aim: How are minerals identified?

• Do now: Use the reference tables and answer the following set of questions.

• HW: .

• Quiz on Wednesday. The characteristics of a mineral and the ways to identify them

Mineral Identification

• How do we identify minerals?

• Minerals are identified by their physical and chemical properties.

• Experienced geologists can easily identify and classify minerals out in the field. They have achieved this ability through careful observations of the minerals physical properties.

• Open up to page 104 of your text book and glance through pages 104 to 107 and list and write a short sentence on the ways minerals are identified in your notes.

Mineral Identification

• Geologists use the following to help identify minerals:

• 1. Color- the apparent color of the mineral• 2. Luster- Luster refers to how light reflects off

the surface of a mineral• 3. Streak- The streak refers to the powder left

by the mineral when applied to a hard surface. • 4. Hardness- The hardness of a mineral is

referred as the resistance to being scratched. • 5. Cleavage- Cleavage refers to how minerals

break along parallel planes. • 6. Specific gravity• 7. Chemical Tests

Color

• Color: When observing a mineral, the first thing that we notice is its color. The color may give us clues to what type of mineral we are looking at.

• However you can not go on color alone

• Let’s look at two examples: Quartz and Calcite

Color

• Notice how quartz is similar in color.

• Some minerals may have the same color, so we use other characteristics.

http://www.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/~kblock/minerals/calcite.jpg

http://www.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/~kblock/minerals/quartz.jpg

Color

• Quartz can appear in three colors:• Rose, Clear, Smokey• http://www.pitt.edu/~cejones/GeoImages/1Minerals/1IgneousMineralz/Quartz/Quartz_3Types.jpg

Luster

Galena-Metallichttp://resourcescommittee.house.gov/subcommittees/emr/usgsweb/photogallery/images/Galena%202_jpg.jpg

Sulfur- Nonmetallichttp://resourcescommittee.house.gov/subcommittees/emr/usgsweb/photogallery/thumbnails/Sulfur_jpg.jpg

Streak

• Notice the streak or powder left by galena

• Each mineral has a distinctive streak.

http://www.visualsunlimited.com/images/watermarked/311/311404.jpg

Cleavage

http://www.geology.sfasu.edu/minerals/galena01.jpg

http://www.sci.ccny.cuny.edu/~kblock/minerals/calcite.jpg

Cleavage

Potassium Feldspar