minerals Flashcards
Mineral
a solid inorganic substance of natural occurrence.
Rock
the solid mineral material forming part of the surface of the earth and other similar planets, exposed on the surface or underlying the soil or oceans.
Element
A substance that cannot be decomposed into simpler substances by chemical means, and is made up of atoms all with an identical number of protons.
Compound
a thing that is composed of two or more separate elements; a mixture.
Crystal
a piece of a homogeneous solid substance having a natural geometrically regular form with symmetrically arranged plane faces.
Color
the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way the object reflects or emits light.
Luster
is the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal, rock, or mineral.
Streak
cover (a surface) with streaks.
Cleavage
is the tendency of crystalline materials to split along definite crystallographic structural planes.
Fracture
the property of a mineral breaking in a more or less random pattern with no smooth planar surfaces.
Density
an intrinsic physical property of minerals that relates to the composition of the mineral and to the pattern in which the mineral’s atoms are arranged.
Ore
The naturally occurring material from which a mineral or minerals of economic value can be extracted.
Metallic minerals
igneous and metamorphic rocks.
Non metallic minerals
sand, gravel, limestone, clay, and marble.
Gemstones
a precious or semiprecious stone, especially one cut, polished, and used in a piece of jewelry.
