NATS 1750 Lecture 2: NATS 1750-Earth& Minerals.pdf
13 Nov 2014
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Most are an aggregate of minerals but they can be other things (like limestone or coal or volcanic glass) How atoms s>ck together: minerals are mostly compounds di erent elements that bond, 3 types of bond. Ionic bonds: electron transfer - element has much stronger a nity. Very strong bonds, materials oken very hard, high melt temperature and crystal structure. Covalent: electron sharing a nity for electrons more similar between elements. Most organic chemicals have this type of bonding. Water is covalent molecule/compound. Metallic: electrons loosely bound and move freely from atom to atom. Results in highly conduc>ve and ease with which metals bend (and other proper>es. ) Classifying minerals: physical proper>es chemical proper>es. Physical proper>es: op>cal, colour, crystal characteris>cs, strength, density and/or speci c gravity other This is how the chemicals in the mineral interact with light (can include non- visible wavelengths like uv or infrared. Luster looks at how re ec>ve a mineral is.
