MINERALS!
2015
Ms. Broy’s Class

ROCKS ARE MADE UP OF ONE OR MORE
MINERALS!

WHAT IS A MINERAL?
• Naturally occurring (comes from nature, not a laboratory)
• A solid (well unless it finds itself inside the earth in the mantle!)
• Inorganic (was never a living thing)
• Has a fixed chemical formula
• Has an ordered crystal structure

PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
• Streak – color of the powder left behind
• Luster – way the mineral surface reflects light
• Hardness – the minerals’s ability to resist being scratched (Tested according to Moh’s Hardness Scale)
• Color

Moh’s Hardness Scale
Used to measure a mineral’s ability to resist being scratched.
What is the hardest mineral?
What is the softest?
Which mineral(s) could leave a scratch on fluorite?

MOH’S HARDNESS SCALE
Scratching tools: fingernail (2.2) copper penny (3.5) pocket knife or common nail (5.2) piece of glass (5.5) steel file or concrete nail (7.5) piece of corundum (9)
Each mineral can scratch the minerals with lower hardness ratings.
Each mineral can scratch itself.