To identify a mineral: SNIFC it out!
• Solid
– Cannot be a liquid or a gas
• Naturally Occurring
– Found in nature, not man-made
• Inorganic
– Is not alive and never was, non-living (generally not made from Carbon)
• Fixed composition
– Has a chemical formula, most are formed from compounds of two or more
elements, some minerals consist of one element ex. Au
• Crystal Form
– A definite structure in which atoms are arranged
Mineral?
Wood
Solid
Naturally
Occurring
Inorganic
Fixed
composition
Crystal Form
Summary
1. How do you tell if something is a
mineral?
2. When finished:
Look at textbook p.116 – 122
Fossil
Granite (made of 20% quartz and 80% other minerals)
Quartz (made of silicon and oxygen)
Diamond (made of carbon)
Sugar (made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen)
Table Salt (made of sodium and chlorine)
Glass (made of silica, oxygen, and other elements)
• Minerals
a) Quartz
b) Diamonds
c) Salt
• Non-Minerals
a) Fossils – once living
b) Granite - intrusive igneous rock
c) Sugar – made of carbon from
plants
d) Glass – man-made
According to IMA – ice is listed as a mineral
Wood (made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and others)
Gold (Chemical symbol Au)
Topaz (made of aluminum, silicon, oxygen, hydrogen,
and fluorine)
Bones
Pearls (made by oysters, made of elements calcium,
carbon, and oxygen)
Talc (made of magnesium, silicon, oxygen, and
hydrogen)
Iceberg (made of hydrogen and oxygen, formula H2O)
Coal (made of carbon)
Silver
• Minerals
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
Gold
Topaz
Quartz
Talc
Iceberg*
Diamonds
Silver
Salt
• Non-Minerals
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
Wood - once living
Fossils – once living
Bone - living material
Granite - intrusive igneous rock
Pearls – made by oysters
Coal - Sedimentary rock
Sugar – made of carbon from
plants
h) Glass – man-made
According to IMA – ice is listed as a mineral