<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In order for a substance to be a&nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">mineral<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">, it must have ALL five of the following characteristics:<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">a. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Naturally Occurring &ndash; it must be formed by processes that occur in the natural world. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">I. Example: &nbsp;Quartz forms naturally as magma cools and hardens deep beneath the Earth&rsquo;s surface.<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;ii. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Plastic, brick,&nbsp;glass, steel are NOT&nbsp;minerals&nbsp;because they are&nbsp;man-made.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Inorganic&ndash; Cannot form from materials that were once part of a living thing.i. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Example: &nbsp;Coal is NOT a mineral because it forms from the remains of plants that lived long ago.c. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Solid (NOT liquid). &nbsp;Definite volume and shape; particles are tightly packed together so they cannot move like they can in a liquid.i. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Water&nbsp;is NOT a mineral in its&nbsp;liquid&nbsp;form, but can become a mineral when it cools and hardens. Crystal structure &ndash; the particles in the mineral line up in a pattern that repeats over and over.i. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The repeating pattern forms a solid called a&nbsp;crystalii. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;A crystal has flat sides called&nbsp;faces&nbsp;that meet at sharp edges and corners.e. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Definite chemical composition &ndash; minerals always contains certain elements in definite proportions.i. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Minerals can be either&nbsp;elements&nbsp;(a single substance) or a&nbsp;compound&nbsp;(a combination of 2 or more elements).ii. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Most minerals chemically are&nbsp;compounds, because they are made of two or more elements.<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Lato,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Hardness-<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">A mineral&rsquo;s ability to&nbsp;scratch&nbsp;or be scratched by another mineral;&nbsp;Mohs&nbsp;Hardness scale; Ranked 1-10; Determined with a&nbsp;scratch&nbsp;test-minerals can only scratch a&nbsp;softer&nbsp;mineral<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Lato,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Color-<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">characteristic property of some minerals; Not always reliable: i.e. quartz in different colors; physically observed by sight&nbsp;<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Streak-The color of a mineral&rsquo;s powder; a mineral&rsquo;s color may vary, but its streak does not and they are often different; Rub a mineral against a piece of unglazed tile and visually observe powder<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Density-Mass per unit volume; Calculated by&nbsp;density=mass/volume;&nbsp;Mass determined using a&nbsp;balance&nbsp;and Volume determined with&nbsp;water displacement<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Crystal System-Crystal shapes put into&nbsp;six&nbsp;groups based on number and angle of&nbsp;crystal faces;&nbsp;Visually observed using&nbsp;microscopes&nbsp;if too small to observe with the naked&nbsp;eye <span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Lato,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Luster-<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">How a mineral reflects&nbsp;light&nbsp;from its surface; Minerals containing metal are usually&nbsp;shiny-Terms used: earthy,&nbsp;waxy, pearly,&nbsp;glassy; visually&nbsp;observed<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li dir="ltr" style="font-size:18pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;">By&nbsp;evaporation&nbsp;&ndash; When&nbsp;minerals&nbsp;are dissolved in water, and the&nbsp;water&nbsp;evaporates, the minerals that are left behind will form&nbsp;crystals</li></ul>Example: &nbsp;Slow evaporation of seawater leaves behind minerals such as halite and calcite<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li dir="ltr" style="font-size:18pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;">By the&nbsp;cooling&nbsp;of a hot water solution:</li></ul>Magma heats water underground &nbsp; &nbsp; Minerals dissolve in hot water to form solutions &nbsp; &nbsp; Solutions follow cracks in earth&rsquo;s crust called veins &nbsp; &nbsp; As solution cools, elements crystallize to form a mineral.Example: Pure&nbsp;Silver&nbsp;can crystallize in veins from a hot water solution.<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li dir="ltr" style="font-size:18pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;">Minerals are formed by&nbsp;crystallization-&nbsp;process where atoms join to form a crystal structure</li></ul>Crystallization of&nbsp;magma or lava:Crystallization of&nbsp;materials&nbsp;dissolved in&nbsp;water<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li dir="ltr" style="font-size:18pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;">Formed when&nbsp;magma&nbsp;cools&nbsp;inside&nbsp;crust or when&nbsp;lava&nbsp;cools and&nbsp;hardens&nbsp;on the&nbsp;surface:</li></ul>Slow&nbsp;cooling deep&nbsp;underground&nbsp;forms&nbsp;large&nbsp;crystalsFast&nbsp;cooling&nbsp;close to&nbsp;or&nbsp;above&nbsp;the surface forms&nbsp;small&nbsp;crystals<ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><li dir="ltr" style="font-size:18pt;font-family:'Times New Roman';background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"> </li></ul>

<span style="font-size:13.999999999999998pt;font-family:Arial;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In order for a substance to be a&nbs

In order for a substance to be a mineral, it must have ALL five of the following characteristics:

George 

View the note In order for a substance to be a mineral, it must have ALL five of the following characteristics:: In order for a substance to be a mineral, it must have ALL five of the following characteristics:a. Naturally Occurring – it must be formed by processes that occur in the natural world. I...