Minerals: Properties and Uses

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Minerals Properties and Uses
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A Mineral is

• Naturally occurring
• Inorganic (not made from animals or plants)
• Solid
• with a definite chemical composition (formula)
• and an orderly arrangement of atoms (crystal
  structure)

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Crystal Structure
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What determines the use or uses of a particular
mineral?

• Use is determined by
• physical properties
• chemical composition

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What are physical properties?

• Color
• Luster
• Metallic
• Nonmetallic
• Streak
• Color of the powdered mineral
• Hardness
• Mohs Scale from 1-10
• Breakage
• Cleavage
• Fracture

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Physical Properties

• Unique combinations for each mineral
• Useful for Identification
• Determine some uses

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Use determined byphysical properties

• Chemical composition is of little concern.
• Specific physical properties are the basis for
  use.
• Examples
• Quartz for its hardness sand paper
• Talc for its absorbency baby powder
• Graphite for its softness pencil leads
• Halite for its taste

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Graphite
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Talc
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Some minerals are used for their chemical
composition

• Physical properties are of little concern
• Chemical composition is important because certain
  minerals are sources of valuable chemical
  elements or are of use by themselves.

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Examples of minerals used for their chemical
composition

• Gold jewelry, dentistry, electronics

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Examples of minerals used for their chemical
composition

• Hematite, magnetite, limonite iron and steel

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Examples of minerals used for their chemical
composition

• Malachite, azurite, chrysocolla copper wires,
  pennies, electronics

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Examples of minerals used for their chemical
composition

• Gold jewelry, dentistry, electronics
• Hematite, magnetite, limonite iron and steel
• Malachite, azurite, chrysocolla copper wires,
  pennies, electronics
• Galena lead, formerly plumbing and paints, now
  mostly chemicals industry
• Bauxite aluminum cans, foil, bikes, aircraft,
  etc.

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Abundance of chemical elements in Earths Crust

• O 46.6 Si 27.7
• Al 8.1 Fe 5.0
• Ca 3.6 Na 2.8
• K 2.6 Mg 2.1
• Other 1.7

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Other Chemical Elements

• 1.7 of crust
• Highly useful
• Highly valuable
• Example Copper average crustal abundance is 50
  ppm, but the US alone uses 2 million tons per
  year!