minerals By Melanie walker
Quartz • Chemical formula: SiO2
Amethyst Quartz
• Luster: non-metallic • Cleavage: Yes; conchoidal cleavage • Colour: colourless
Rose Quartz
• Streak colour: colourless • Hardness: harder than glass • Moh’s scale: 7 • Special properties: It can form various gems. It is the 2nd most abundant mineral in the earths crust. • Uses: To make glass, ie.windows
Quartz(Clear) Sources: -wikipedia.com -glencoe.com “virtual mineral lab”
barite
Blue green barite from Africa.
White Barite
Golden Yellow Barite
• Chemical formula: BaSO4 • Luster: Vitreous • Cleavage: Yes; Good prismatic cleavage, • Colour: Colorless, white, light shades of blue and yellow to golden brown • Streak colour: White • Hardness: Can just be scratched with a steel knife blade • Moh’s scale: 3-3.5 • Special properties: It’s extreme weight, heaviness • Uses: Processed barite is used in medical imaging. Also used in the oil and gas industry for drilling muds. Sources: - Wikipedia.com - Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
hematite • Chemical formula: Fe2O3 • Luster: Metallic to dull earthy
Hematite with red streak
• Cleavage: None • Colour: Hematite is steel grey, to dull grey reddish • Streak colour: Reddish brown • Hardness: Hard as iron, but very brittle
Polished Hematite
• Moh’s scale: 5.5-6.5 • Special properties: Hematite has a distinguishing red streak • Uses: Major mineral used to form iron, used in jewelry Sources: - Wikipedia.com -Glencoe.com “virtual mineral lab”
graphite
Black/grey Graphite
Graphite powder
• Chemical formula: C Carbon • Luster: metallic • Cleavage: Yes; basale cleavage • Colour: black-gray • Streak colour: black-gray • Hardness: softer than a fingernail • Moh’s scale: 1-2 • Special properties: Graphite has booth properties of metal and none metal Uses: Steel, batteries, pencils
Sources: - Wikipedia.com -Glencoe.com “virtual mineral lab”
magnetite • Chemical formula: Fe3O4 • Luster: metallic • Cleavage: Yes; fracture • Colour: black • Streak colour: black • Hardness: harder than glass
Black magnetite
• Moh’s scale: 5.5-6.5 • Special properties: Strongly magnetic • Uses: used in steel, generates electricity in power plants, used in compasses Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
galena • Chemical formula: Pbs Lead sulphide • Luster: metallic • Cleavage: Yes; cleavage • Colour: gray • Streak colour: gray-black • Hardness: softness of a fingernail
Galena
• Moh’s scale: 2.5 • Special properties: contains many impurities • Uses: in things made of lead, such as vests to shield us from radiation during x-rays Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
Muscovite mica • Chemical formula: KAI2(Si3aI) O10 (OH,F)2 • Luster: non-metallic • Cleavage/fracture: cleavage • Colour: coulorless, transparent white • Streak colour: white
Transparent Muscovite
• Hardness: softness of a fingernail • Moh’s scale: 2.5 • Special properties: Reflects light • Uses: Electrical liners, windows for ovens Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
fluorite • Chemical formula: CaF2
Fluorite: mix of green and purple
• Luster: non-metallic • Cleavage: Yes; cleavage • Colour: (usually) variations of purple • Streak colour: colourless • Hardness: softer than glass, but harder than a fingernail • Moh’s scale: 4
Fluorite under UV light
• Special properties: fluorescence under UV light • Uses: optics, high end telescopes and lenses. Source of fluoride used in toothpaste
Sources: - Wikipedia.com -Glencoe.com “virtual mineral lab”
calcite • Chemical formula: CaCO3 • Luster: metallic • Cleavage: Yes; cleavage
Calcite: green, red, orange, black, blue
• Colour: white/various • Streak colour: white • Hardness: harder than a fingernail, softer than glass
Calcite doubles words
• Moh’s scale: 3 • Special properties: a transparent variety called Iceland spar is used for optical purposes. • Uses: experiments have been conducted to use calcite for a cloak of invisibility
Sources: -Wikepedia.com -glencoe.com “virtual mineral lab”
Schist mica • Chemical formula: KMg3 (AlSi3O10) (F, OH) 2 • Luster: Pearly, metallic • Cleavage: Yes; nearly perfect cleavage • Colour: light and dark bands of gray, often shiny • Streak colour: White
Shiny Schist Mica
• Hardness: varies from hard to soft • Moh’s scale: 2,4,6 Schist Mica has different minerals in it so varying degrees of hardness • Special properties: fairly smooth to the touch • Uses: as a decorative garden rock Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
pyrite Pyrite
Golden yellow pyrite
• Chemical formula: FeS2 Iron sulfide • Luster: Metallic • Cleavage: indistinct • Colour: Pale brass yellow to brassy golden colour • Streak colour: Black with a slight greenish or brownish colour • Hardness: A little harder than a Steele knife blade • Moh’s scale: 6-6.5 • Special properties: It is called fools gold • Uses: Pyrite is used in the production of sulfuric acid Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
talc • Chemical formula: Mg3Si4O10(Oh2) • Luster: non-metallic
White talc
• Cleavage: cleavage • Colour: white or greenish • Streak colour: white • Hardness: softer than a fingernail
Talc powder
• Moh’s scale: 1 • Special properties: Talc is extremely soft • Uses: Powders (baby powder), soapstone, ceramics paint, paper Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
gypsum
• Chemical formula: CaSO4 H20
Gypsum crystals
Gypsum cut with a razor blade
• Luster: non-metallic • Cleavage: Yes; three directions of cleavage • Colour: colourless • Streak colour: white • Hardness: softer than a fingernail • Moh’s scale: 2 • Special properties: Many gypsum crystals are found perfectly intact without distortions, Gypsum can be recycled and used over and over • Uses: Gypsum is primarily used in plaster and drywall boards, it is also used in agriculture as a soil conditioner Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
feldspar • Chemical formula: Al(Al,Si)3O8. • Luster: non-metallic • Cleavage: Yes; cleavage • Colour: varied, pink white gray brown • Streak colour: colourless • Hardness: harder than glass • Moh’s scale: 6 • Special properties: Feldspar is a very common mineral, It is a group of minerals not one specific • Uses: china and earthenware (dishes), also an important ingredient in glass Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”
sulfur Sulfur crystals
Sulfer in it’s natural invironment
• Chemical formula: S8 • Luster: non-metallic • Cleavage: none • Colour: yellow • Streak colour: yellow-white • Hardness: softer than a fingernail • Moh’s scale: 1.5-2 • Special properties: Sulfur has many interesting properties such as it burns blue • Uses: Mostly used in the production of sulfuric acid, also used in gun powder and explosives Sources: -Wikipedia.com -Glenco.com “virtual mineral lab”