TAGUM CITY COLLEGE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOUNDATION INC.

Elpidio M. Gazmen Compound, Gazmen Road, Tagum City

SEC. Reg. No. 200630691 / Tel. No. 216-6824
E-mail Address: tcit2007@yahoo.com

Supplementary Learning
Materials for
Senior High School
Grade Levels: Grades 11
Core Subject: Earth Science
Semester: 1st Semester

LEARNING COMPETENCY:

(Identify common rock-forming minerals using their physical and chemical properties.
S11ES-Ib-5)

Subject Teacher: Mary Grace A.

Lequin
Contact Number: 09676179212
Week: 1st Week/MODULE 3

0
 Rock-forming Minerals

Rocks are composed of minerals. A mineral is a naturally occurring substance

which is usually solid, crystalline, stable at room temperature and inorganic. There are
almost 5000 known mineral species. A small group of these minerals make up almost
90% of the rocks of Earth’s crust. These minerals are known as the common rock-
forming minerals. The rock-forming minerals are: feldspars, quartz, amphiboles, micas,
olivine, garnet, calcite, pyroxenes.
Minerals differ from each other in chemical composition and physical property,
and these factors produce distinctive physical properties that enable minerals to be
identified.

This unit will introduce the different rock-forming minerals and its physical and chemical
properties.

In this module you will learn about:

1. Common rock-forming minerals
2. Physical and chemical properties of rock forming minerals

At the end of the module, you should be able to:

 demonstrate understanding about physical and chemical properties of

minerals
 identify some common rock-forming minerals
 site the importance of rock-forming minerals

1
Direction: Read each statement carefully. Check the boxes that describe what minerals
is all about.

1. Fundamental components of rocks.

2. Minerals are formed from the weathering of rocks.
3. Minerals have a crystalline structure, meaning their atoms
are arranged in specific shapes and patterns.
4. Minerals are classified according to their chemical
composition.
5. Some common minerals are gold, silver, diamond, and
copper.
6. Elements are not a part of the minerals properties.
7. Minerals can be identified on the basis of features such as
cleavage, color, hardness, and luster.
8. The most common minerals are composed of the most
common elements.
9. Minerals can be broken down to simpler form.
10. The easiest way to create minerals is through laboratory.

Task 1: There are at 10 words that are related to rock-forming minerals.

Find and encircle each word.

A J R O P R O L O C X I R V M A J K Q A C D A
Q L N F G G Y K U F Y S R L O B V R T A H O D
H A R D N E S S I Z N G E P Y Z E X I L E J A
R C F L H G V A J L E Y T C A T R A O L M E J
B I R J O R O C K S V I S A S E R S E Q I V A
K S Y R W B C L D C B L U U M U S M R C C I Q
L Y I E Q J X E D V A J L C A N E B L B A C A
S H G V N L Z Q C X V Y Y E R N A L Y R L P R
F P K L R E T I C L A C A L T I C I L Y S U S
R I H I B Q B L O G A L A M O N R L C A J T Q
W T P S L A R E N I M N E S E T R Q U A R T Z

Task 2: Study the picture carefully.

2
 Quartz Feldspar

Calcite Micas

Guide Questions:
1. What have you observed from the picture presented?
__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________

2. What are the visible characteristics of each minerals?

__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________

3. How do they differ from each other?

__________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________

Minerals and Rocks

Minerals and Rocks are both essential part of our geosphere. All minerals are
solid, it occur naturally and have unique properties from each other. It has also a
crystalline structure, thus its atoms are arranged in specific form and patterns. Minerals
3
are fundamental components of rocks. Same as minerals, rock is also solid and
naturally occurring. Rocks are composed of two or more minerals.

The abundance and diversity of minerals depend on the abundance in the Earth’s
crust of the elements of which they are composed. Eight elements make up 98% of the
Earth’s crust: oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium and
potassium.
Oxygen (O) 46.6%
Silicon (Si) 27.7%
Aluminum (Al) 8.1%
Iron (Fe) 5.0%
Calcium (Ca) 3.6%
Sodium (Na) 2.8%
Potassium (K) 2.6%
Magnesium (Mg) 2.1%
Table. The eight most common elements in the Earth's crust by mass (Source:
https://hkss.cedd.gov.hk/hkss/eng/education/GS/eng/hkg/chapter1.htm)

Classification and Identification

Minerals are classified according to their chemical composition. The physical

properties of minerals, such as their hardness, luster, color, cleavage, fracture and
relative density, can be used to identify minerals. These general characteristics are
controlled mainly by their atomic structure (crystal structure).

Physical Properties of Minerals

Some minerals are easily identifiable; others can only be recognized only by the
use of a petrographic microscope or by complex analytical techniques. Because it’s
hard to examine the internal structure and chemical composition of minerals without any
laboratory equipment’s the use of optical or physical properties are commonly used for
identification. The following criteria are used to differentiate minerals in hand sample:

Color
 One of the most obvious characteristic of a mineral, but generally not the
most useful diagnostic feature.
 Color maybe a unique identifying property of certain minerals (e.g.
malachite –green, azurite – blue).
 Other minerals, such as tourmaline, also exhibit a variety of hues, with
multiple colors sometimes occurring in the same sample.
 Thus, the use of color as a means of identification is often ambiguous or
even misleading.

Blue Quartz Jasper Amethyst

Luster

4
  Luster refers to the way in which the surface of a mineral reflects light, and
is controlled by the kinds of atoms present and their bonding.
 Most minerals have a nonmetallic luster and are described using various
adjectives such as vitreous or glassy.
 Other nonmetallic minerals are described as having a dull or earthy luster
(a dull appearance like soil) or a pearly luster (such as a pearl).
 Some others exhibit a silky luster (like satin cloth) or a greasy luster (as
though coated in oil).

Streak
 The color of the mineral in powdered form.
 A mineral’s streak is obtained by rubbing it across a streak plate (a piece
of unglazed porcelain) and observing the color of the mark it leaves.
 Although the color of a mineral may vary from sample to sample, its streak
is usually consistent in color.
 Metallic minerals generally have a dense, dark streak, whereas minerals
with nonmetallic luster typically have a light colored streak.

Hardness
 One of the most useful
diagnostic properties is
hardness.
 It is a measure of the
resistance of a mineral
(not specifically surface) to
abrasion.
 A numerical value of
hardness can be obtained by
using the Mohs scale of
hardness, which consists of
10 minerals arranged in
order from 1 (softest) to 10
(hardest).

5
 Crystal Form/Habit
 Refers to the characteristic shape of a mineral unit (either an individual
crystal or an aggregate of crystals).
 The form reflects the supposedly internal structure (of atoms and ions) of
the crystal (mineral).
 It is the natural shape of the mineral before the development of any
cleavage or fracture.
 The crystal form also define the relative growth of the crystal in 3
dimension which are its length, width and height.
 Examples include prismatic, tabular, bladed, platy, reniform and equant.
 A mineral that do not have a crystal structure is described as amorphous.

Prismatic Cubic Fibrous

Cleavage
 It is the property of some minerals to break along parallel repetitive planes
of weakness to form smooth, flat surfaces.
 Cleavage is the tendency of a mineral to break (cleave) along planes of
weak bonding.
 Cleavage is an indication of how well a mineral breaks along these planes
of weakness, and may be a good diagnostic characteristic.
 Cleavage may be described as “perfect”, ”good”, “distinct” or ”poor”.
o Basal cleavage- Cleavage exhibited on
a horizontal plane of the mineral by
way of its base. An example of basal
cleavage are the mica minerals.
o Cubic cleavage- Cleavage exhibited
on minerals of the isometric crystal
system that are crystallized as cubes.
An example is Galena.
o Prismatic cleavage- Cleavage
exhibited on some prismatic minerals in
which a crystal cleaves as thin,
vertical, prismatic crystals off of the
original prism. An example is Feldspar.

Fracture
 Some minerals may not have cleavages but exhibit broken surfaces that
are irregular and non-planar.
 When minerals fracture, most produce uneven surfaces and are described
as exhibiting irregular fracture.
 However, some minerals, such as quartz, break into smooth, curved
surfaces resembling broken glass.
6
 o Conchoidal fracture- breaks
along smooth curved surfaces.
o Fibrous and splintery - similar to
the way wood breaks.
o Hackly- jagged fractures with
sharp edges.
o Uneven or Irregular- rough
irregular surfaces.

Specific Gravity
 It is the ratio of the weight of a mineral to the weight of an equal volume of
water.
 A number representing the ratio of a mineral’s weight to the weight of an
equal volume of water.
 Most common rock-forming minerals have a specific gravity of between 2
and 3.
 For example, quartz has a specific gravity of 2.6.

Others
 There are certain unique properties of minerals that actually help in their
identification (e.g. magnetism, odor, taste, tenacity, reaction to acid, etc.).
 Magnetite is strongly magnetic; sulfur has distinctive smell; halite is salty;
calcite fizzes with acid as with dolomite but in powdered form.

Chemical Properties of Minerals (Mineral Groups)

A more stable and less ambiguous basis for classification of minerals is by

chemical composition.

 Silicates - minerals containing 2 of the most abundant elements in the

Earth’s crust, namely, silicon and oxygen. Over 90% of the rock-forming
minerals belong to this group. Aside from Si (46.6 % by wt.) and O
(27.7%), the other most common elements that make the earth’s crust are
Al (8.1), Fe (5.0), Ca (3.6), Mg (3.1), Na (2.8) and K 2.6).
 Oxides- minerals containing Oxygen anion (O2-) combined with one or
more metal ions
 Sulfates- minerals containing Sulfur and Oxygen anion (SO4)- combined
with other ions.
 Sulfides- minerals containing sulfur anion (S2)- combined with one or
more ions. Some sulfides are sources of economically important metals
such as copper, lead and zinc.
 Carbonates- minerals containing the carbonate anion (CO3)2- combined
with other elements.
 Native Elements – minerals that form as individual elements.

7
 o Metals and Inter-metals – minerals with high thermal and electrical
conductivity, typically with metallic luster, low hardness (gold, lead).
o Semi-metals – minerals that are more fragile than metals and have
lower conductivity (arsenic, bismuth).
o Halides – minerals containing halogen elements combined with one
or more elements.

Common Rock Forming Minerals

 Feldspars- re a collection of rock-forming tectosilicate

minerals that make up by weight about 41% of the
mainland surface of the Earth. In both intrusive and
extrusive igneous rocks, feldspars crystallize from
magma as veins and are also present in many kinds of
metamorphic rock.
 Quartz- is a mineral consisting of carbon and water
particles in a constant frame of SiO4 silicon-oxygen
tetrahedral, sharing each carbon between two
tetrahedral, providing SiO2 a general chemical formula.
Quartz is Earth’s second most common mineral,
behind feldspar, in the continental crust.
 Amphibole- is a significant cluster of inosilicate minerals
that form prisms or needle-like crystals. Amphiboles may be
green, black, white, yellow, blue, or brown.
 Mica- The mica group of sheet silicate (phyllosilicate)
minerals involves several near-perfect basal cleavage
associated products. he almost ideal cleavage is
clarified by the hexagonal sheet-like structure of its
atoms, which is the most prominent feature of mica.
 Olivine- Mineral olivine is a formula (Mg2 +,
Fe2+)2SiO4 zinc iron silicate. The earth’s upper
mantle’s main element, it is a prevalent mineral in the
subsurface of Earth, but it weathers rapidly on the
ground.
 Garnet- Garnets are a set of minerals of silicate that
have been used as gemstones and abrasives since the
Bronze Age. All garnet species have comparable
physical characteristics and crystal shapes, but vary in
chemical composition.
 Calcite- Calcite is a mineral carbonate and the most
stable calcium oil polymorph (CaCO3). The mineral
hardness scale of Mohs, based on the contrast of
scratch hardness, describes value 3 as “calcite”.
 Pyroxenes- Pyroxenes (frequently shortened to Px)
are a set of significant minerals discovered in many
igneous and metamorphic rocks that form rock
inosilicates.

8
Task 4: Read each question carefully and write your answers on the space provided.

1. Define Physical Property of Minerals and site some Physical Property.

___________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

2. Define Chemical Property of Minerals.

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________

3. Define Rock Forming Minerals.

________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________

4. What is the difference between Rock and Minerals?

__________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

5. How important Minerals is?

__________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________

I have learned that ________________ ________________ ______.

I have realized that ________________ _________________ _____.

I will apply _____________ _________________ _______________.

Task 1: Read each item carefully and identify what word is referring to the given
statement. Write your answer before the number.

1. It is composed of two or more minerals.

2. Is a naturally occurring substance which is usually solid, crystalline,
stable at room temperature and inorganic?

9
 3. One of the most obvious characteristic of a mineral, but generally not
the most useful diagnostic feature.
4. It is the property of some minerals to break along parallel repetitive
planes of weakness to form smooth, flat surfaces.
5. The color of the mineral in powdered form.
6. It is the ratio of the weight of a mineral to the weight of an equal volume
of water.
7. Refers to the characteristic shape of a mineral unit (either an individual
crystal or an aggregate of crystals).
8. Refers to the way in which the surface of a mineral reflects light, and is
controlled by the kinds of atoms present and their bonding.
9. It is a measure of the resistance of a mineral (not specifically surface) to
abrasion.
10. The numerical value of hardness of Minerals can be obtain through
what scale?

Task 2: Enumerate the following. Write your answers on the space provided.

1. 6 Mineral Groups according to their Chemical Properties.

o _______________
o _______________
o _______________
o _______________
o _______________
o _______________
2. Common Rock Forming Minerals (Give at least 1 of each Rock Forming
Minerals).
o ______________________________________________________
o ______________________________________________________
o ______________________________________________________
o ______________________________________________________
o ______________________________________________________
o ______________________________________________________
o ______________________________________________________
o ______________________________________________________

Glossary

Abrasion An area damaged by scraping or wearing away.

Hues A color or shade.
Is the force exerted by magnets when they attract or repel each
Magnetism
other. Magnetism is caused by the motion of electric charges.
Tenacity The quality or fact of being able to grip something firmly; grip.
Vitreous Like glass in appearance or physical properties.

References

https://www.minimegeology.com/shop/images/p.499.1-blue_calcite_mineral.jpg

https://www.ima-europe.eu/sites/ima-europe.eu/files/minerals/6feldspar-perthitic1.gif

10
https://geologyscience.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Quartz-and-Hematite
Crystals.jpg

https://mineralseducationcoalition.org/wpcontent/uploads/Mica_phlogopite_22836937.jp
g

http://www.asuregreytown.nz/280g-Electroplating-Blue-Quartz-Crystal-Cluster
Specimen-piedras-y-cristales-para-manualidades-naturals-Ornaments-Hot-SALE
RITT55050/p_929/

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Jasper_outcrop_in_the_Bu
cegi_Mountains.jpg/310px-Jasper_outcrop_in_the_Bucegi_Mountains.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Amethyst._Magaliesburg
%2C_South_Africa.jpg/1200px-Amethyst._Magaliesburg%2C_South_Africa.jpg

https://www.visionlearning.com/images/figure-images/130-e-2x.jpg

https://media.cheggcdn.com/study/827/8270af7e-4c83-4296-b813
9e03bc5a6999/516453-1.3-2IA1.png

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-identify-a-Mineral/step3/Hardness/ (8/30/2015)

http://www.geologypage.com/2019/07/rock-forming-minerals.html#ixzz6TpWJZRno

Prepared by:

KENT DARIUS F. BATINGAL, L. Agr.

Position

11