Common Rock-

Forming Minerals
What is Minerals?
- refers to the naturally
occurring, inorganic and solid
substance with a crystalline
structure.

- this crystals are composed of

a repeating structure composed
of atom of one or more
elements.
The Crystalline Structure of the ff.
How to be Minerals?
To be considered a common rock
forming mineral, a mineral must:
A) be one of the most abundant
minerals in Earth’s crust;
B) be one of the original minerals
present at the time of a crustal
rock’s formation; and,
C) be an important mineral in
determining a rock’s
classification.
How to be Minerals?
D. Naturally
occurring
E. Inorganic
F. Orderly
internal structure
How many minerals are there?
- Scientists have identified over 4,000 different
minerals. A small group of these minerals make
up almost 90% of the rocks of Earth’s crust.
These minerals are known as the common rock-
forming minerals.
 Example of Common Rock-Forming
Minerals
✓feldspars
✓ quartz
✓Pyroxenes
✓Amphiboles
✓Micas
✓Clays
✓Olivine
✓calcite
✓dolomite.
How to classify
minerals?
 PHYSICAL
and
CHEMICAL
PROPERTIES of
Minerals
Physical Properties
- All minerals have at least 9 physical properties
that can be used to define, describe, and
identify them as unique minerals.
1. Crystal Habit
refers to the overall shape or growth
pattern of the mineral.
It can be described as equant, elongate
and platy.
Equant – three dimensions of the mineral have
about the same length, like that of a cube or
sphere. (ei. garnet)
Why Garnet has
Various colors?
✓ Due to
chemical present
on it.
Elongate – forms prismatic or prism-like
crystals that are thicker than the needle
as in a pencil. (ei. Indicolite)
Platy – looks like a flattened and thin crystal
(like plate). (ei. Wulfenite)
• 2. Color – some mineral has same color and some
are found in multiple colors
• one of the least reliable hints of a mineral’s
uniqueness.
• Some minerals always have the same color, such as
gold, whereas some minerals, such as quartz,
fluorite, and calcite, come in all colors.
• The presence and intensity of certain elements
determines a specimen’s color.
3. Luster – the manner in which a mineral reflects light.
- describes the appearance of a mineral when
light is reflected from its surface. It can be
described as opaque, transparent, dull, or shiny.
✓Minerals which possess a
metallic luster therefore tend to
exhibit a thick, dense, dark streak
✓whereas those which possess a
non-metallic luster tend to produce
a thinner, less dense streak which is
also lighter in color.
4. Streak
✓ the color of the pulverized powder of a mineral.
✓ produced when it dragged across the unweather
surface
✓ The color of mineral’s powder may differ from the
actual color of the minerals.
✓ good basis in identifying the metal present.

Ex. Calcite
It occurs in many
different colors &
shape but every
single variety of has white streak.
The color could be
different from the
crystal’s color, and
is always distinctive
4. Hardness – the ability of minerals to
resist scratching or abrasion.
• This physical property of a mineral depends on the
chemical composition as well as the crystalized
structure of a mineral.
→Uses the Moh’s Hardness scale with a rating
system of 1-10
• Designed by German geologist/mineralogist Friedrich
Mohs in 1812
*1 = very soft
*10 = hardest ]
Moh’s Hardness Scale
6. Cleavage – the ability of a mineral to break, along
smooth planes parallel to zone of weak bonding.
→Where the
bonds are
weakest =
breakage plane
 Mineral Cleavage
→ has no cleavage (example = quartz)
→Because it has equally strong Si-O bonds in all
directions.
 Mineral Cleavage
→ has 1 plane of cleavage (ex. = Biotite)
 Mineral Cleavage
→ has multiple planes of cleavage
 Mineral Cleavage
→ has multiple planes of cleavage
 5. Fracture
The way a substance breaks where not controlled
by cleavage
→Minerals with
no cleavage
generally break
with irregular
fracture
5. Fracture
 Fracture
→ If minerals break with curved fracture surfaces, it is
called concoidal fracture
- This is seen in glass, the igneous rock Obsidian,

and the mineral Quartz

 Tenacity
- Tenacity refers to a mineral's toughness
or resistance to breaking or being
deformed. Minerals such as halite, calcite
and fluorite are brittle, as their molecules
are held together by weak ionic bonds.
8. Specific gravity is the "heaviness" of a
mineral.
✓It is defined as a number that expresses
the ratio between the weight of a
mineral and the weight of an equal
volume of water.
✓This describes the mineral’s density in
comparison to the density of standard
measures like water. It can be measure
using a balance scale.
8. Specific gravity
✓Materials with specific gravity
greater than 1.000 (1.035 in the
ocean) sink;
✓materials with specific gravity less
than 1.000 (1.035 in the ocean) float.
✓Lead has the highest specific gravity -
11.35, except for gold.
 9. Other Special Properties
a. Taste – a few minerals have a characteristic taste
Halite tastes like salt

b. Odor – a few minerals have a characteristic odor

Clay minerals have an “earthy” smell
File:Halite-57430.jpg
 9. Other Special Properties
• c. Striations – straight parallel lines on the flat
surface of the cleavage directions
 9. Other Special Properties
• d. Magnetism – some minerals with large
amounts of iron oxide are attracted to
magnets
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS
✓Chemical properties of minerals show the
presence and arrangement of atoms in
minerals.
✓Using their chemical properties, minerals are
identified by how they react to certain
substances.
✓Solubility and melting point are chemical
properties that are commonly used to
describe a mineral.
 Solubility
✓refers the ability of a substance to
dissolve in a solvent at a specified
temperature.
✓For example, Halite commonly known
as rock salt, is a type of salt mineral
that is soluble in water.
 MELTING POINT
✓refers to the temperature at which solid
turns into liquid.
✓ Minerals composed of atoms that are
strongly bonded within the crystal structure
have high melting points.
✓For example, olivine melts above 1900°C. In
the laboratory, the composition and crystal
structure of minerals can be analyzed
through chemical and instrumental
examination and experiments.
✓carbonate minerals
✓ react visibly with acid
✓(Usually, a dilute hydrochloric acid [HCl] is
used.)
✓When a drop of dilute hydrochloric acid is
placed on calcite, it readily bubbles releasing
carbon dioxide
✓Some are toxic like cinnabar and soluble in
water like halite.
✓ Minerals are classified according to their chemical
composition using Dana System which divides
minerals into eight basic classes. The classes are:
✓ native elements
✓ Silicates
✓ Oxides
✓ Sulfides
✓ Sulfates
✓ Halides
✓ Carbonates
✓ Phosphates
✓ Mineraloids.
 DANA SYSTEM
✓JAMES DWIGHT DANA – American geologist,
mineralogist and zoologist created the
classification system known as DANA SYSTEM
of MINERALOGY