Download Mighty Minerals

The elements oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, potassium, and sodium make up
99 percent of all minerals on Earth.
The most common minerals are made from oxygen and silicon and are named Silicates.
Scientists have identified over 2000 different minerals in the earth's crust.
95% of the earth's crust is composed of about a dozen different rock-forming minerals.
Minerals are different from rocks. A mineral is a chemical compound with a given composition and a
defined crystal structure. A rock is a mixture of one or more minerals in varying proportions.
A mineral is a naturally formed, inorganic solid that has a definite crystalline structure.
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks but are not rocks. A rock is made up of two or more
minerals and might contain organic matter.
To be called a mineral, it must have all of the following 5 characteristics:
SNIFC
Solid
Not liquid or gas
Naturally Occurring
Inorganic
Found in nature, not human-made
Not alive and never was
Fixed Chemical Composition
Crystal Form
Same formula, everywhere, every Time
Atoms are arranged in a definite structure
Fixed chemical composition
Some minerals like gold or silver are made of only one element. (A substance such as
iron, oxygen, and gold which cannot be separated or broken down by ordinary
chemical methods)
Other minerals, like quartz and calcite, are combinations of two or more elements.
Minerals are usually solid crystals.
The atoms are arranged in an orderly pattern.
The crystals have a number of flat surfaces in an orderly arrangement. For example, a crystal of quartz is
always hexagonal because of the way the atoms of silicon and oxygen join together.