Unit Three - Rock and Minerals - All About Minerals Flashcards
What Are Minerals?
The building blocks needed to form different types of rocks
What are the five requirements in order for a piece of mass to be considered a rock?
- Naturally Occuring
- Inorganic
- Solid
- Definite Structure
- Atoms are arranged in repeating patterns
Meaning of Inorganic
Non-Living
What is a crystalline solid?
Atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern
What three methods are minerals formed and what do they all have in common?
- Crystallization
- Recrystallization
- Rearrangement
- All minerals form from a liquid to a solid
What is the process of crystallization?
Dissolved minerals in water later form into crystalline solids
What is the process of recrystallization?
The cooling and hardening of molten material.
Rearrangement
The rearrangement of atoms under high temperatures and pressure.
Definition of Silicates
A silicate is a general classification of certain minerals.
- Has to have 4 O2 atoms and 1 Si
- Tetrahedral Shape with Si in center and O2 atoms bonded to that center
What is responsible for the chemical and physical properties a mineral possesses?
The crystal structure or “internal arrangement of atoms”