To identify a mineral: SNIFC it out!

1
To identify a mineral SNIFC it out!
SNIFC

• Solid
• Cannot be a liquid or a gas
• Naturally Occurring
• Found in nature, not man-made
• Inorganic
• Is not alive and never was, non-living (generally
  not made from Carbon)
• Fixed composition
• Has a chemical formula, most are formed from
  compounds of two or more elements, some minerals
  consist of one element ex. Au
• Crystal Form
• A definite structure in which atoms are arranged

2
Mineral?
Wood
Solid
Naturally Occurring
Inorganic
Fixed composition
Crystal Form
3
Summary

• How do you tell if something is a mineral?
• When finished
• Look at textbook p.116 122

SNIFC
4
Fossil
5
Granite (made of 20 quartz and 80 other
minerals)
6
Quartz (made of silicon and oxygen)
7
Diamond (made of carbon)
8
Sugar (made of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen)
9
Table Salt (made of sodium and chlorine)
10
Glass (made of silica, oxygen, and other elements)
11
And the answers are

• Minerals
• Quartz
• Diamonds
• Salt

• Non-Minerals
• Fossils once living
• Granite - intrusive igneous rock
• Sugar made of carbon from plants
• Glass man-made

According to IMA ice is listed as a mineral
12
Wood (made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and
others)
13
Gold (Chemical symbol Au)
14
Topaz (made of aluminum, silicon, oxygen,
hydrogen, and fluorine)
15
Bones
16
Pearls (made by oysters, made of elements
calcium, carbon, and oxygen)
17
Talc (made of magnesium, silicon, oxygen, and
hydrogen)
18
Iceberg (made of hydrogen and oxygen, formula H2O)
19
Coal (made of carbon)
20
Silver
21
And the answers are

• Minerals
• Gold
• Topaz
• Quartz
• Talc
• Iceberg
• Diamonds
• Silver
• Salt

• Non-Minerals
• Wood - once living
• Fossils once living
• Bone - living material
• Granite - intrusive igneous rock
• Pearls made by oysters
• Coal - Sedimentary rock
• Sugar made of carbon from plants
• Glass man-made

According to IMA ice is listed as a mineral