Define Mineral. Identify and describe some minerals found in the earth's crust. How do we identify minerals?

Answer 1

A mineral is a naturally-occurring, inorganic substance with a constant chemical composition and a crystalline structure. There are four ways to identify minerals: physical characteristics (hardness, specific gravity, crystal structure), chemical characteristics (various chemical tests made in the laboratory), optical characteristics (in very thin sections transparent or translucent minerals have certain constant optical properties when viewed with polarized light and other optical aids in a special microscope), and by x-ray diffraction studies (x-rays are passed through a powdered specimen, and positions of atoms in the structure of the mineral are revealed).

Answer 2

minerals are solid,naturally occuring,inorganic,fixed chemical structure,and has to be a compound or mineral or SNIFE. The diamond is the hardest know mineral to man,and talc is the softest.