![]() ![]() ![]() Luster concerns the character of the light that is reflected by the mineral. Impurities, however, often change the color of minerals. For example, gold is always yellow turquoise, always light blue. The following are terms commonly used to describe minerals.Ĭolor, the easiest physical property to describe, is one of the easiest means of identifying certain pure minerals. Describing a mineral without describing its physical properties is difficult. The definite physical properties of a mineral depend on its chemical composition and its molecular arrangement. Fool's gold, or pyrite, always consists of iron and sulfur together, forming iron sulfide, FeS 2, and sphalerite is always zinc sulfide, ZnS. Quartz, for instance, is always composed of the two elements silicon and oxygen which combine in the proportion of one atom of silicon to two of oxygen to form silicon dioxide, SiO 2. A characteristic chemical composition means that no matter where a mineral is found, it contains the same types and quantities of chemical elements. Inorganic means that the minerals have not been formed directly by any kind of life, either plant or animal. Natural means that it occurs in nature and is not manmade. What is a mineral? A mineral is a natural, inorganic substance with a characteristic chemical composition and definite physical properties. So was calcite, the mineral that is the primary component of limestone. ![]() Salt, a common mineral, was deposited at the bottom of an ancient sea. Because most of the rocks at the surface of Kansas are sedimentary in origin, so are most of the minerals. All rocks are composed of one or more minerals. ![]()
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