You may have studied minerals and their characteristics at some point. There are many types of minerals , each extracted in a different way and possessing different properties. Humans use minerals for various purposes. A mineral is simply an inorganic solid containing naturally occurring substances with a specific chemical formula.
In this article we are going to focus on the different types of minerals that exist on Earth and the function they have. Do you want to know more about it? This is your post 
Characteristics that define a mineral
The first thing to note about a mineral is that it is an inert, inorganic element; that is, it is not alive. For something to be considered a mineral, several conditions must be met. The first is that it cannot originate from any living organism or organic remains. Minerals are natural substances that occur naturally on Earth . Being natural, they must be extracted from nature and not created artificially.
With the issue of minerals there is a lot of business. There are people who counterfeit minerals for other synthetics made by themselves to sell them at the expense of people who believe in the mystical power of minerals. A clear example is labradorite, quartz, etc.
The chemical formula of a mineral must be fixed. It is composed of molecules and atoms arranged in a specific way and should not change. Two minerals can be composed of the same atoms and molecules but have different proportions. An example of this is cinnabar. This mineral has the chemical formula HgS. This means that its composition is mercury and sulfur molecules. For cinnabar to be a genuine mineral, it must be extracted from nature and be inorganic.
How to differentiate one mineral from another
When in doubt, there are characteristics that can help us differentiate between some types of minerals and others. We remember that each mineral has properties that make it unique and different from the rest. We are going to see what are the characteristics that would help us differentiate between different minerals.
- The first is to know whether or not we are talking about A crystal. There are minerals that are crystals themselves and of natural origin. Obviously it is not a crystal like the one we are used to seeing, but they have a polyhedral shape, faces, vertices and edges. It should be mentioned that most minerals are crystals due to their structure.
- Habit is the form they usually have. Depending on the temperature and pressure at which they are formed, minerals have a different habit. It is the form that they commonly have.
- The colour it's a fairly easy feature to differentiate. Each miner has a different color that can help us know which is which. There are also colorless and transparent ones.
- The bright It is another characteristic that can help us to know the types of minerals. Each one has a different glow. There are them with metallic, vitreous, matte or adamantine luster.
- The density it can be seen quite easy. Depending on the size and mass of each mineral, you can easily know the density. The densest minerals are small and heavy.
Properties of minerals
Minerals have properties that allow them to be classified and categorized into a wide variety of types. One of their main properties, and one by which they are classified, is hardness. From the hardest to the softest, they are classified according to the Mohs scale.
Another property is fragility. That is, how easy or difficult it is to break at one blow. Hardness should not be confused with brittleness. For example, diamond is the hardest mineral since it cannot be scratched unless it is with another diamond. However, it is extremely easy to break when hit, since it is very fragile.
When a mineral breaks, it can fracture irregularly or cleave regularly. Cleavage means the fragments are of equal size. To fully analyze a mineral, all its characteristics and properties must be considered.
The Mohs scale is the following, ranging from the greatest hardness to the least:
- 10. Diamond
- 9. Corundum
- 8. Topaz
- 7. Quartz
- 6. Orthoclases
- 5. Apatite
- 4. Fluorite
- 3. Calcite
- 2. Plaster
- 1. Talc
To facilitate understanding, it must be said that hardness consists of the ability to be scratched. In this case, the talc can be scratched by everyone, but it cannot scratch anyone. Quartz can scratch the rest of the list from 6 down, but can only be scratched by topaz, corundum and diamond. Diamond, being the hardest, cannot be scratched by anyone and it can scratch everyone.
Types of minerals
The way minerals occur in nature helps to identify two main groups. On one hand, there are rock-forming minerals, and on the other hand, there are ore minerals.
An example of the first type of mineral is granite. Granite is a rock composed of three types of minerals: quartz, feldspar, and mica (see Types of Rocks ). The second type includes iron ores. It is an ore because it is obtained directly from iron. Iron ore has a high content of natural, pure iron, so it can be extracted directly. It should be noted that ores often contain impurities.
Among the rock-forming minerals we have:
- These are a group of minerals that form rocks with greater abundance. We find biotite, olivine, quartz and ortose.
- No silicates. These minerals do not have silicon and are gypsum, halite and calcite.
On the other hand, we have ore minerals from which the element is extracted directly. A large accumulation of a type of ore mineral is called a deposit. To obtain the metal from an ore, impurities are separated by crushing it, and then it is remelted at high temperatures . This is how the famous ingots are formed.
I hope this information helps you understand more about the types of minerals and their characteristics. It's also interesting to know that there are rare earth deposits in Spain , which deserve further investigation.
