4.2: What is a mineral?
- Page ID
- 22623
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The term “minerals” as used in nutrition labels and pharmaceutical products is not the same as what “mineral” means in a geological sense. In geology, the classic definition of a mineral is a substance that is: 1) naturally occurring, 2) inorganic, 3) solid at room temperature, 4) has an orderly and repeating internal crystalline structure, and 5) a chemical composition that can be defined by a chemical formula. Some natural substances technically should not be considered minerals, but are included by exception. For example, water and mercury are liquid at room temperature. Both are considered minerals because they were classified before the room-temperature rule was accepted as part of the definition. Although the mineral calcite, with the chemical formula \(\ce{CaCO3}\), is quite often formed by organic processes, it is considered a mineral because it is widely found and geologically important. Because of these discrepancies, in 1985, the International Mineralogical Association amended the definition to: “A mineral is an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes.” Typically, substances like amber, pearl, opal, or obsidian do not fit the definition of mineral because they do not have a crystalline structure. They are referred to as “mineraloids.”