Physical and Chemical Properties of Minerals Physical and Chemical Properties of Minerals

What are Minerals? Physical Properties include habit, luster, cleavage and fracture,
hardness, color, and streak.
-Minerals are important component of the Earth’s lithosphere. They
are naturally occurring materials that play a significant role in human
civilization.
1. Crystal Habit - refers to the overall shape or growth pattern of
-Minerals are naturally occurring substances that are harnessed and the mineral. It can be described as equant, elongate and platy.
used by humans in everyday life.
Equant - three dimensions of the mineral have about the
-Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. same length, like that of a cube or sphere. (ei. Garnet)

Elongate - forms prismatic or prism-like crystals that are

Characteristics of Minerals thicker than the needle as in a pencil. (ei. Indicolite)
1. Naturally Occurring - a product of Earth’s natural processes.
2. Inorganic - it must be product of Earth’s physical processes. Platy - looks like a flattened and thin crystal (like plate). (ei.
3. Homogeneous Solid - minerals should have definite volume Wulfenite)
and rigid shape.
4. Definite Chemical Composition - represented by a chemical 2. Luster - describes the appearance of a mineral when light is
formula. reflected from its surface. It can be described as opaque,
5. Orderly Crystalline Structure - atoms of minerals are transparent, dull, or shiny.
arranged in an orderly and repeating pattern.
Metallic luster is opaque and very reflective like gold and
silver.
EXAMPLE OF MINERALS:
Nonmetallic luster is dull, silky, greasy, and pearly like
Hematite (hinges, handles, make up color) silicates.

Chromite (chrome plating, dyes) 3. Cleavage and Fracture - Cleavage refers to the tendency of
Copper (electric wiring) minerals to break along very smooth, flat and shiny surfaces. It
can be described as one, two, three, four or all direction. A
Quartz (clocks, mirrors) mineral fracture may break along random, irregular surfaces. It
can be classified as conchoidal, uneven, hackly, splintery, and
Gold (jewelries)
earthy. Some minerals break only by fracturing, while others
Feldspar (porcelain, ceramics) both cleave and fracture.

Fluoride (toothpaste) Minerals without cleavage. Example: Quartz

Cleavage with one direction. Example: Muscovite
 Cleavage with two direction. Example: Feldspar remains is the color of the streak. Streak is a more reliable
Cleavage with three direction. Example: Halite property than color as streak shows the true color of minerals.
It does not vary even if color does.
Conchoidal - fracture is smooth curve, bowl-shaped.
Hackly - fracture has sharp, jagged edges. Additional Properties
Uneven - fracture rough and irregular.
Magnetism - some minerals are attracted to a hand magnet. To test a
Fibrous - fracture surface shows fibers or splinters.
mineral for magnetism, just put the magnet and mineral together and
see if they are attracted. Magnetite is the only common mineral that is
4. Hardness - is a measure of the mineral’s resistance to
always strongly magnetic.
scratching. Harder minerals will scratch softer minerals.
Friedrich Mohs in 1812 ranked minerals according to Striations - presence of very thin, parallel grooves. Before you decide
hardness. He selected ten minerals of distinctly different if there are no striations, look at all parts of all visible cleavage
hardness that ranged from a very soft mineral (talc) to a very surfaces, moving the sample around as you look wherein light is
hard mineral (diamond). reflected from these surfaces at different angles.
Specific Gravity - is the weight of that mineral divided by the weight
of an equal volume of water.
Mineral Name Scale Number
Diamond 10 Taste, Odor, Feel - some minerals have distinctive taste (halite is
Corundum 9 salt, and tastes like it). Some give off a distinctive odor (the powder of
Topaz 8 some sulfide minerals, such as sphalerite, a zinc sulfide, smells like
Quartz 7 rotten eggs), and some have a distinctive feel (talc feels slippery).
Orthoclase 6
Apatite 5
Fluorite 4
Calcite 3 Chemical Properties - show the presence and arrangement of atoms
Gypsum 2 in minerals. Using their chemical properties, minerals are identified by
Talc 1 how they react to certain substances.
Furthermore, Cuarto (2016) classified minerals according to their
5. Color - is one of the most obvious properties of a mineral but chemical composition using Dana System which divides minerals into
not reliable alone. Some minerals come in just one color, while eight basic classes. The classes are native elements, silicates,
others come in many colors and varieties. Quartz varies oxides, sulfides, sulfates, halides, carbonates, phosphates, and
widely in color, due to minor (parts per billion) impurities and mineraloids. This classification shows the chemical composition of
even defects in its crystalline structure. minerals.

6. Streak - refers to the color of the mineral in its powdered form,

which may or may not be the same color as the mineral. 1. Native Elements - These minerals are naturally occurring in
According to Bayo-ang (2016) streak is obtained by scratching nature in an uncombined form with a distinct mineral structure.
the mineral on an unpolished piece of white porcelain called a It can be classified as metal, semimetals and non-metals.
streak plate. When the excess powder is blown away, what Example: Silver
2. Silicates - This is the largest group of minerals. It contains
silicon and oxygen, with some aluminum, magnesium, iron and
calcium.
Example: Feldspar

3. Oxides - It is formed from the combination of a metal with

oxygen. This group ranges from dull ores like bauxite to gems
like rubies and sapphires.
Example: Magnetite

4. Sulfides - These are made of compounds of sulfur usually

with a metal. They tend to be heavy and brittle.
Example: Pyrite

5. Sulfates - These are made of compounds of sulfur combined

with metals and oxygen. It is a large group of minerals that
tend to be soft, and translucent.
Example: Gypsum

6. Halides - They form from halogen elements like chlorine,

bromine, fluorine, and iodine combined with metallic elements.
They are very soft and easily dissolved in water.
Example: Halite/Table Salt