What Is a Mineral?

Amethyst crystals from Brazil Click on image for full size (20K JPG) Courtesy of Corel Photography

Minerals occur naturally on rocky planets and form the building blocks of rocks. They are non-living, solid, and, like all matter, are made of atoms of elements. There are many different types of minerals and each type is made of particular types of atoms. The atoms are bonded together and arranged in a special way called a crystal lattice, a network of atoms. The lattice of atoms is what gives a mineral its crystal shape.

Different types of minerals have different crystal shapes. Most minerals can grow into crystal shapes if they have enough space as they grow. But most of the time there are so many different crystals growing in the same space that they all compete for space and none of the crystals is able to grow very large.

There are two main ways that new crystals of minerals grow. Either they form when molten rock, called magma below a planet’s surface and lava above, cools and changes state from a liquid to a solid allowing atoms to bond together into mineral crystals. Or, some minerals grow when water, that is rich with dissolved elements, evaporates and the atoms in the water get very close together, eventually bonding together forming solid minerals.

The special shapes of minerals are not the only difference between them. Minerals can be identified by other physical properties as well. Each type of mineral has its own unique set of characteristics.

Amethyst crystals from Brazil Click on image for full size (20K JPG) Courtesy of Corel Photography

Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. They are non-living, solid, and, like all matter, are made of atoms of elements. There are many different types of minerals and each type is made of particular groups of atoms. The atoms are arranged in a network called a crystal lattice. The lattice of atoms is what gives a mineral its crystal shape.

Different types of minerals have different crystal shapes. Most minerals can grow into crystal shapes if they have enough space as they grow. But there are often so many different crystals growing in the same little area that they all compete for space and none of the crystals is able to grow very large.

There are two main ways that new crystals of minerals grow. Some minerals form when molten rock, called magma below a planet’s surface and lava above, cools and atoms bond together into mineral crystals. Other minerals form when water that has atoms of dissolved elements in it, evaporates away. The atoms get very close to each other and may bond together to form solid minerals.

The special shapes of minerals are not the only difference between them. Minerals can be identified by other physical properties as well. Each type of mineral has its own special characteristics.

Amethyst crystals from Brazil Click on image for full size (20K JPG) Courtesy of Corel Photography

Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. There are many different types of minerals. All of them are solid and all are made of atoms of elements.

Minerals can grow even though they are not alive. Most minerals grow into crystal shapes if they have enough space. But there are often so many different crystals growing in the same little area that they none of the crystals is able to grow very large.

There are two main ways that new crystals of minerals grow. Some minerals grow when molten rock like magma or lava cools. Other minerals grow when water evaporates away and solid minerals are left behind.

You can tell the difference between types of minerals! All you need to know is what each is like!