GEOL 1001 : Exam One(Ch. 3 & 4)
Document Summary
Minerals: economically important drive world economies, historically important dictated human history. Can write chemical formula for a mineral. E. g. , diamond and graphite have the formula: c (both made of carbon) E. g. , quartz (sio2): has one silicon atom for every two oxygen atoms. Atoms are not distributed randomly and cannot move around easily. In a fixed, specific atomic pattern =crystalline solid. Almost all minerals are inorganic: sugar (c12h22o11, a mineraloid exhibits some of these properties. But is not crystalline: crystals grow by . Atoms begin to attach to the seed when the melt becomes so cool that thermal vibrations can no longer break apart the attraction between the seed and the atoms in the melt. Crystals develop when the solution becomes saturated. Meaning the number of dissolved ions per unit volume of solution is so great they can get close enough to each other to bond. Movement of atoms or ions through a solid to arrange into a new crystal structure.
