Science Topics

Minerals

The rocks which formed the Earth, the Moon and the planets are made up of minerals. Everyone has a certain familiarity with minerals for they are present in the rocks of the mountains, the sand of the sea beach, and the soil of the garden. Minerals are naturally occurring solid inorganic substances composed of atoms having an orderly and regular arrangement. The orderly arrangement is the criterion of the crystalline state so that it is possible to express the composition of a mineral as a chemical formula. Minerals have played a major role in humanity’s life and standard of living. They have become increasingly important, and today we depend on them in countless ways, from the construction of skyscrapers to the manufacture hi-tech electronic products. Without minerals, modern society would not exist. They provide the basic framework of industrial production.

The minerals are bounded by crystals’ face when they are free to grow without constraint (Photo 1, 2 and 4). They are invariably disposed in a regular way such that there is a particular relationship between them in any one mineral species. A crystal is bounded by a naturally formed plane faces, and its regular outward shape is an expression of its regular atomic arrangement (Photo 3, 8 and 9). Crystal can be grouped into seven crystal systems, such as cubic, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, triclinic, hexagonal and trigonal. Crystal can show remarkable differences in shape according to crystal form or combination of forms is developed.