Minerals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Minerals - Essay ExampleThis paper describes the classifications of minerals. Minerals can be classified according to various fleshly characteristics such as hardness, luster, and even their color. They can in like manner be classified by their chemical and response properties. These properties can help identify uncharted minerals, as well as identifying the minerals in the theme of an unknown rock. All of these characteristics ar used in the helping of classifying and organizing the wide array of different and unique rocks and minerals that be 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 crystallization body structure. It must also be an inorganic, naturally-occurring, homogeneous substance with a defined chemical composition. A crystal structure is a specific arrangement of atoms inside the mineral. Crystal structures can be seen using X-rays if the mineral com position is too small. There are over 4,000 different types of minerals, of these 150 called common, 50 are occasional, and the rest are rare to extremely rare. 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 rhomb being the hardest mineral, and talc being the softness, a scale is used to determine where a minerals hardness lies.