MINERALS

Minerals are the building blocks of all rocks. These are made up of elements or groups of elements. These are present in our surrounding nature.

A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a specific internal structure and a chemical composition that varies only within specific limits. All specimens of a particular mineral, regardless of when, where or how they formed, have the same physical properties and the same chemical composition.

Minerals are comprised of elements. There are approximately 100 basic elements, but only 8 make up the majority of minerals comprising the Earth's crust. Oxygen (O) and Silicon (Si) are the most important elements, bonding with others such as Aluminium (Al), Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Calcium (Ca) and Potassium (K) to make minerals.

An atom is the smallest unit of an element, consisting of protons, neutrons, and electrons. The number of protons determines which element the atom is. Many mineral properties depend on the strength of bonds between ions.

Most rocks contain a variety of different minerals. However, some rocks consist almost entirely of only one mineral. For example, the metamorphic rock marble is almost entirely the mineral calcite, and the igneous rock dunite is almost entirely the mineral olivine.

TYPES OF MINERALS:-

On the basis of their constituent elements, minerals can be subdivided into a number of groups:-

1. Native Elements
2. Sulphides
3. Halides
4. Oxides
5. Carbonates
6. Sulphates
7. Phosphates
8. Silicates