Mineral

How it is used

Used in mineralogy labs, rock descriptions and mining. Students identify minerals by colour, hardness, cleavage and lustre. 'Mineral deposits' and 'mineral resources' are economic terms; 'rock-forming minerals' are the few common minerals that build most rocks.

Example sentences

1. Quartz and feldspar are the most common minerals in granite.

2. Use a hand lens to identify the main minerals in each sample.

Common collocations

• identify a mineral
• rock-forming minerals
• mineral deposit
• clay minerals
• mineral composition

Related terms

• rockA natural solid material made mostly of minerals, such as granite or limestone. Rocks make up the Earth's crust and are grouped by how they formed.
• crystalA solid in which the atoms are arranged in a regular, repeating pattern, which often gives it flat faces and a typical shape.
• quartzA hard, common mineral made of silicon dioxide (SiO2), usually clear, white or grey with a glassy lustre. It has a hardness of 7 and no cleavage.
• hardnessA mineral's resistance to being scratched, measured on the Mohs scale from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond). It is one of the first tests used to identify minerals.
• cleavageThe tendency of a mineral to break along flat, smooth planes of weakness in its crystal structure. Mica splits into thin sheets because of its perfect cleavage.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

• mineral · Nutrition & Dietetics

More terms: Rocks & Minerals

• igneous rock
• sedimentary rock
• metamorphic rock
• rock cycle
• granite
• basalt
• limestone