Rocks and Minerals Notes Earth Science

I. Minerals

over 2000 minerals in earth's crust

atoms form crystals, crystals form minerals, minerals form rocks

    A. Rock forming minerals

        most are silicates = made of SiO2

        combine in different ways

        rocks can be made of  one mineral

                                    two minerals

                                    three minerals

    B. Size of crystals tell a story

        big crystals = slow cooling process inside the Earth

        small crystals = quick cooling on Earth's surface

    C. Mineralogy - the study of minerals

II. Identifying minerals

    A. Characteristic, 

        1. color = many have a characteristic color

            diamond = clear, milky

            gold = gold

            silver = blue

            copper = green

            mercury = red

            iron = gray or orange

            sulfur = yellow

            quartz = clear

                pink/purple if titanium in it

    2. Luster = how shiny

        from dull to very shiny

        galena is  very shiny

        quartz is shiny

        basalt is dull

    3. crystal shape

        each crystal has a shape

        due to arrangement of atoms that form it

        quartz = hexagonal : pencil

        sulfur = orthrombic : pillow

        mica = flat : sheet

    4. streak test = scratch will leave a different color scratch

        forms powder

        iron pryite is yellowish but will scratch green

    5. cleavage = how a mineral breaks down a line

        along line of atoms in the crystal

        break called a fracture

    6. hardness

        softest is talc and hardest is diamond

        scale developed by Fredich Mohs

1.talc    scratch it easily with fingernail

2.gypsum    scratch with fingernail

3.calcite    scratch with a penny

4.flouride    scratch easily with steel knife

5.apatite    scratch with knife

6.feldspar    hard to scratch with knife

7.quartz    scratches a steel knife

8.topaz    harder than most minerals

9.curundum    scratches topaz

10.diamond    hardest substance

    7.specific gravity = (weight in air/weight in water)

        comparison of its weight in air to its weight in water

        really talking about density

        how heavy it is for its size

        very dense = gold and lead

        light or less dense = limestone and aluminum

    8. acid test

        acid will dissolve limestone CaCO3

        will test for calcite or limestone

    9.special properties

        some minerals are flourescent under UV light

        some minerals are radioactive

III. Families of minerals

remember: atoms form molecules

                molecules form crystals

                crystals form minerals

                minerals form rocks

    A. Silicates = minerals made of Si and O

        1. Quartz = most common silicate made of Si and O

            glassy

            hexagonal crystal

            clear or milky or pink/purple with impurities (amethist)

            found in granite with mica and feldspar

    2. Feldspar

        tetrahedron crystal

        made of Si, O, and K

        common name if potash

        white, yellow, gray or pink

        in granite with quartz and mica

    3. Mica

        softer

        flat sheet crystal

        muscovite

        brown or black

        once used for windows

        also in granite

    4. talc

        softest

        slippery

        turn into baby powder

    5. garnet

        dark red, yellow, green or black

        can be used as a gem if pure garnet

    6. kaolin = aluminum silicate

        white clay sticky when wet

        used for china, kitty liter and kaopectate

    B. Carbonate minerals with CO3

        1. limestone = calcium carbonate

            3 types in FL

            made from shell and coral

        2. calcite is pure CaCO3

            clear and box shaped

        3. malichite

            green

            copper and CO3

    C. Iron oxides made of Fe and O

        hematite

            pure FeO

            dark gray

        lodestone = natural rock magnet

        pyrite = FeS

            bright gold crystals

            fools gold

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