Classification of a Minerals - Essay Example

People might sometimes think that deep below us nothing really is going on. They view the earth as just dirt, with no science or work undergoing beneath their layer of grass on their lawns. These people could not be more wrong. While they are vast asleep, the earth is churning and forming, pushing and tearing apart, making more and more things deep, and sometimes not so deep beneath the surface of the earth. It is in this natural environment that minerals are formed. Traveling shows often display various minerals, in amazing displays of color, shine, and radiance. These displays can show off all different types of mineral formations, often valuable to collector’s and fans of minerals alike. Minerals can then be combined to make up what we call rocks. Some rocks are made up of more than one mineral, while others are made up of one single mineral. These rocks and minerals can then be divided into groups based on their certain physical and chemical properties. Minerals can be classified according to various physical characteristics such as hardness, luster, and even their color. Minerals can also be classified by their chemical and reaction properties. These properties can help identify unknown minerals, as well as identifying the minerals in the composition of an unknown rock. All of these characteristics are used in the helping of classifying and organizing the wide array of different and unique rocks and minerals that are found above, below, and hidden throughout the physical boundaries of planet Earth. To be truly classified as a mineral, the substance must be a “solid and have a crystal structure. It must also be an inorganic, naturally-occurring, homogeneous substance with a defined chemical composition” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals). A crystal structure is a specific arrangement of atoms inside the mineral. Crystal structures can be seen using X-rays if the mineral composition is too small. There are over 4,000 different types of minerals, of these “150 can be called "common," 50 are "occasional," and the rest are "rare" to "extremely rare" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals). When minerals combine, they can join together to form rocks. Rocks can be a combination of several different minerals, or can be made of use simple mineral. Most rocks are formed out of commonly found minerals. The remaining almost half of the mineral known samples are so rare, that they are not very often found in rock samples, and in some extreme cases, a mineral is only know by a few grains of a sample( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals). The tough task of classifying and arranging the different minerals on the earth falls upon the shoulders of the physical and chemical characteristics of the various minerals. The first way to classify minerals is by their physical, or noticeable to the eye characteristics. The first physical classification of minerals is the factor of crystal structure. A mineral may have a small or large crystal structure, and the size, shape, and grain type of the crystal all can help classify the mineral. The second physical classification is the hardness of the mineral. With a diamond being the hardest mineral, and talc being the softness, a scale is used to determine where a mineral’s hardness lies. A mineral on the scale can scratch any mineral lower on the scale than it, thus a diamond, with a hardness of ten, would be able to scratch corundum, which has a hardness of 9. The third physical classification of a mineral is its luster. The luster of a mineral is how well the mineral “interacts with light and can range from dull to glassy” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minerals). There are various words that can be used to describe luster, such as metallic, which gives the illusion of being a metal, to dull, with little reaction with light. The fourth physical characteristic of a mineral it the mineral’s unique color. This quality is simple what color the mineral shows, and can be seen to the naked eye. Streak is another physical characteristic of minerals. Streak is the color powder a mineral leaves after being scratched across a streak plate. Cleavage is another physical property, which describes how a mineral splits across its various faces and planes. Cleavage is not to be confused with fracture, which is another physical property of minerals. Fracture describes how a mineral breaks when it is broken unnaturally. Specific gravity is the final physical characteristic of a mineral, which describes a mineral’s mass and density of water. Chemical means can also be used to classify minerals. Minerals can not only be categorized by physical means. Chemical formula and chemical make up can also be used to classify the many unique minerals. To some, they just may be simply rocks. But to a geologist, or someone else with a fascination with minerals and rocks, they are much more than that. They are the make up of the earth as we know it. Minerals can combine to make up rocks, and these rocks can form other parts of the geological sphere of the earth. The earth is made up of these thousands of minerals, some very rare and some very common. Some of these minerals can be found simply by walking outside and picking up a rock. Some other minerals however, are so rare in the scope of the earth, that scientists have only found them in few grains or samples. All these minerals are spread through the earth, and classifying them is a task that also must be dealt with scientifically The classification of these various minerals fall upon observation of the physical and chemical make up and composition of the mineral being studied. Minerals can be classified by their crystal structure, their hardness, their luster, their color, their streak, their cleavage, their fracture, and their specific gravity. Minerals can also be classified by their chemical make up and composition. The classification of these minerals can help to identify new and undiscovered minerals, and can also help to identify an unknown sample of a mineral or rock just found. All of these unique characteristics help to identify the thousands and thousands of minerals found in our earth. Shaped differently by the inside of the earth, minerals are important building blocks of rocks, and important to the geological build up and structure of the earth. Minerals, although sometimes just considered flashy rocks, are very important to the earth and make up of the physical world as we know it. Read More