Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Listen
Email

Topic Pages contain an overview, definitions, biographies, related topics, images, plus links to relevant articles and other content provided by your library. Topic Page: mineral

Definition: mineral from Dictionary of Energy

Materials. a general term for any naturally occurring inorganic substance, of inorganic or possibly organic origin, that has a definite chemical composition and an orderly internal structure, a crystal form, and characteristic chemical and physical properties.

Summary Article: mineral from The Columbia Encyclopedia

inorganic substance occurring in nature, having a characteristic and homogeneous chemical composition, definite physical properties, and, usually, a definite crystalline form. A few of the minerals (e.g., carbon, arsenic, bismuth, antimony, gold, silver, copper, lead, mercury, platinum, and iron) are elements, but the vast majority are chemical compounds. A generalized formula can usually be assigned to each mineral that is a chemical compound, although sometimes one element in a mineral may be replaced by another without changing the species of the mineral (isomorphism). Minerals combine with each other to make up rocks, which, as distinguished from minerals, are of heterogeneous composition. Minerals may occur in the massive state when conditions for the formation of crystals are unfavorable. Among the important physical properties of minerals are specific gravity, hardness, cleavage, fracture, luster, color, transparency, streak, striations, tenacity, fusibility, heat conductivity, taste, odor, feel, magnetism, and electrical properties. Minerals originate by precipitation from solution, by the cooling and hardening of magmas, by the condensation of gases or gaseous action on country rock, and by metamorphism. Minerals in rocks are frequently replaced by other minerals through the action of water or gases (metasomatism). Minerals, especially the metals, are of great economic importance to a highly industrialized civilization, entering into the composition of many manufactured articles. Many minerals which would otherwise be of no economic significance are highly valued as gems (see gem). Mineralogy, a branch of geology, is the science of minerals.

  • See Gillson, J. L., Industrial Minerals and Rocks (1960);.
  • Hurlbut, C. S. Jr., Minerals and Man (1968);.
  • Mason, B.;Berry, L. G., Elements of Mineralogy (1968);.
  • Morrissey, C. J., Mineral Specimens (1968);.
  • J. D. Dana, Manual of Mineralogy (18th ed., rev. by C. S. Hurlbut, Jr., 1971);.
  • Frye, K., The Encyclopedia of Mineralogy (1982).
The Columbia Encyclopedia, © Columbia University Press 2017
"mineral." In The Columbia Encyclopedia, by Paul Lagasse, and Columbia University. 7th ed. Columbia University Press, 2017. https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/mineral
mineral. (2017). In P. Lagasse & Columbia University, The Columbia encyclopedia. (7th ed.). [Online]. New York: Columbia University Press. Available from: https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/mineral [Accessed 25 April 2018].
"mineral." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Paul Lagasse, and Columbia University, Columbia University Press, 7th edition, 2017. Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com/content/topic/mineral. Accessed 25 Apr. 2018.

Related Credo Articles

Full text Article mineral
Philip's Encyclopedia

Natural, homogeneous and, with a few exceptions, solid and crystalline material that form the Earth and make up its rocks . Most are formed...

Full text Article mineral
Philip's Encyclopedia

In nutrition, naturally occuring substances that are an important dietary element. The 'major' minerals are calcium and phosphorus as they are...

Full text Article mineral
Word Origins

[15 century] A mineral is etymologically something obtained by ‘mining’. The word comes from medieval Latin minerāle , a derivative of the...

See more from Credo