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1.2: Definition of a Mineral

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    17524
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    The word mineral means different things to different people. In ancient times, people divided all things on Earth into the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms, so a mineral was any natural inorganic substance. Today, dieticians use the term to refer to nutritional elements such as calcium, iron, or sodium, while miners often use it for anything they can take out of the ground—including coal, sand, or gravel. Mineralogists have their own definition.


    This page titled 1.2: Definition of a Mineral is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Dexter Perkins via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.