How can there be 2000 minerals when there are only 88 naturally occuring elements?

Question

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Answer 1

Jeanette,

There are actually 90 naturally occurring elements and over 4400 minerals. The reason is that the vast majority of minerals are not just one element, they are a combination of two or more elements, and some have MANY elements! When you consider how many mixes and matches there can be even just between pairs of elements, it's easy to see why so many minerals can exist. In fact, as Mountain gym pointed out, there are even combinations of the exact same elements in the same ratios that produce several different minerals, because the atoms can be arranged in different ways! When you take this into account, it actually is pretty amazing that there are ONLY 4400!!!

Answer 2

With 90 naturally occurring elements, along with the vast number of possible combinations, the real question is why are there only 2000 minerals. There should be many, many more. For example, there are three polymorphs of aluminum silicate, Al2SiO5, andalucite, silliminite and kyanite. These minerals are each formed due to different heat and pressure conditions. There are several polymorphs of SiO2, with quartz and cristobalite coming to mind right away. The list goes on and on.

Answer 3

Most minerals consist of more than one element and these can be in the mineral in different compositions or variations.
for example look at iron and oxygen. Those 2 elements form:

hematite alpha-Fe2O3
magnetite Fe3O4
wüstite FeO
maghemite gamma-Fe2O3

so you see you can make loads of different minerals from only very few elements.

Answer 4

Minerqls are usually combinations of several elements.. Try figuring out how many combinations are possible with 88 elements.