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Mineral

Mineral is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mineral rather than just read about it. In short: In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form. The geological definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that occur only in living organisms.

Mineral — main illustration
Mineral — illustration

Key takeaways

  • Mineral belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect Mineral to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of Mineral from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form. The geological definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that occur only in living organisms. However, some minerals are often biogenic (such as calcite) or chemically organic compounds (such as mellite). Moreover, living organisms often synthesize inorganic minerals (such as hydroxylapatite) that also occur in rocks. The concept of mineral is distinct from rock, which is any bulk solid geologic material that is relatively homogeneous at a large enough scale. A rock may consist of one type of mineral or may be an aggregate of two or more different types of minerals, spacially segregated into distinct phases. Some natural solid substances without a definite crystalline structure, such as opal or obsidian, are more properly called mineraloids. If a chemical compound occurs naturally with different crystal structures, each structure is considered a different mineral species. Thus, for example, quartz and stishovite are two different minerals consisting of the same compound, silicon dioxide. The International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is the generally recognized standard body for the definition and nomenclature of mineral species. As of August 2026, the IMA recognizes 6,228 official mineral species. The chemical composition of a named mineral species may vary somewhat because the inclusion of small amounts of impurities. Specific varieties of a species sometimes have conventional or official names of their own. For example, amethyst is a purple variety of the mineral species quartz. Some mineral species can have variable proportions of two or more chemical elements that occupy equivalent positions in the mineral's structure; for example, the formula of mackinawite is given as (Fe,Ni)9S8, meaning FexNi9-xS8, where x is a variable number between 0 and 9. Sometimes a mineral with variable composition is split into separate species, more or less arbitrarily, forming a mineral group; that is the case of the silicates CaxMgyFe2-x-ySiO4, the olivine group. Besides the essential chemical composition and crystal structure, the description of a mineral species usually includes its common physical properties such as habit, hardness, lustre, diaphaneity, colour, streak, tenacity, cleavage, fracture, system, zoning, parting, specific gravity, magnetism, fluorescence, radioactivity, as well as its taste or smell and its reaction to acid. Minerals are classified by key chemical constituents; the two dominant systems are the Dana classification and the Strunz classification. Silicate minerals comprise approximately 90% of the Earth's crust. Other important mineral groups include the native elements (made up of a single pure element) and compounds (combinations of multiple elements) namely sulfides (e.g. Galena PbS), oxides (e.g. quartz SiO2), halides (e.g. rock salt NaCl), carbonates (e.g. calcite CaCO3), sulfates (e.g. gypsum CaSO4·2H2O), silicates (e.g. orthoclase KAlSi3O8), molybdates (e.g. wulfenite PbMoO4) and phosphates (e.g. pyromorphite Pb5(PO4)3Cl).

Definitions

International Mineralogical Association The International Mineralogical Association has established the following requirements for a substance to be considered a distinct mineral:

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Mineral: Crystals of serandite, natrolite, analcime, and aegirine from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada
Crystals of serandite, natrolite, analcime, and aegirine from Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada
Mineral: Schist is a metamorphic rock characterized by an abundance of platy minerals. In this example, the rock has prominent sillimanite porphyroblasts as large as 3 cm (1.2 in).
Schist is a metamorphic rock characterized by an abundance of platy minerals. In this example, the rock has prominent sillimanite porphyroblasts as large as 3 cm (1.2 in).
Mineral: Hübnerite, the manganese-rich end-member of the wolframite series, with minor quartz in the background
Hübnerite, the manganese-rich end-member of the wolframite series, with minor quartz in the background
Mineral: When minerals react, the products will sometimes assume the shape of the reagent; the product mineral is termed a pseudomorph of (or after) the reagent. Illustrated here is a pseudomorph of kaolinite after orthoclase. Here, the pseudomorph preserved the Carlsbad twinning common in orthoclase.
When minerals react, the products will sometimes assume the shape of the reagent; the product mineral is termed a pseudomorph of (or after) the reagent. Illustrated here is a pseudomorph of kaolinite after orthoclase. Here, the pseudomorph preserved the Carlsbad twinning common in orthoclase.
Mineral: Topaz has a characteristic orthorhombic elongated crystal shape.
Topaz has a characteristic orthorhombic elongated crystal shape.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mineral

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mineral claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mineral before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mineral ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mineral

In research
Mineral appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses Mineral in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
Mineral is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mineralogy, Minerals, Natural materials, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for Mineral outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study Mineral in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what Mineral means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain Mineral out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mineral in simple terms?

In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form. The geological definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that occur only in li…

Why does Mineral matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mineral?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mineral.

Tags

  • Mineralogy
  • Minerals
  • Natural materials

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