Dr Pusey

www.puseyscience.com

Rocks contain minerals Rocks are divided up into 3 main types:

Igneous (Fresh from Volcanos/Magma)

Sedimentary (Weathered)

Metamorphic (Higher pressure and temperatures)

Rocks are made up of different Minerals

When the minerals in the rock are useful on their own, we also call the rock “ore”. (e.g. Iron Ore)

What are minerals? Naturally occurring pure substances

Can be elements (e.g. Gold – Au) or compounds (Quartz SiO2)

Are non-living (not fossil fuels)

Form a Crystal (repeating) structure

There are hundreds of known minerals

ROCKS CONTAIN MORE THAN 1 MINERAL

Minerals you need to knowMuscoviteBiotiteFeldsparQuartzHaematiteOlivine

How can we identify them all? Ideas?

LustreDescribes how a

mineral reflects light

Glassy (e.g Quartz)

Pearly (e.g Muscovite)

Metallic (e.gHaematite)

Dull (no lustre)

CleavageDescribes how a mineral

breaks apart If a mineral has cleavage,

it breaks away smooth in layers which you can see as lines. (biotite)

Otherwise, it’s a fracture, which have random break-aways with jagged edges (quartz)

Hardness Describes how hard or soft a

mineral is, using a scale which ranks different minerals

Harder minerals can scratch those that are not as hard as them (duh!)

Diamond is super hard, but super expensive. Diamond drills go through anything!

Streak Streak is a more reliable

indicator than Colour.

Streak is the colour of the powder than is formed when a mineral is scratched on a harder tile.

Quartz can be different colours, but will always have a white streak!

childrensmuseum.org

Haematite leaves a red/brown streak

Your Task – Research and Complete

MINERAL COLOUR HARDNESS LUSTRE CLEAVAGE (YES/NO)

STREAK

Muscovite

Biotite

Feldspar

Quartz

Haematite

Olivine