Definitions for minerals
min·er·als

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1. minerals

   In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.The geological definition of mineral normally excludes compounds that occur only in living organisms. However, some minerals are often biogenic (such as calcite) or are organic compounds in the sense of chemistry (such as mellite). Moreover, living organisms often synthesize inorganic minerals (such as hydroxylapatite) that also occur in rocks. The concept of mineral is distinct from rock, which is any bulk solid geologic material that is relatively homogeneous at a large enough scale. A rock may consist of one type of mineral, or may be an aggregate of two or more different types of minerals, spacially segregated into distinct phases.Some natural solid substances without a definite crystalline structure, such as opal or obsidian, are more properly called mineraloids. If a chemical compound occurs naturally with different crystal structures, each structure is considered a different mineral species. Thus, for example, quartz and stishovite are two different minerals consisting of the same compound, silicon dioxide. The International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is the generally recognized standard body for the definition and nomenclature of mineral species. As of November 2022, the IMA recognizes 5,863 official mineral species.The chemical composition of a named mineral species may vary somewhat by the inclusion of small amounts of impurities. Specific varieties of a species sometimes have conventional or official names of their own. For example, amethyst is a purple variety of the mineral species quartz. Some mineral species can have variable proportions of two or more chemical elements that occupy equivalent positions in the mineral's structure; for example, the formula of mackinawite is given as (Fe,Ni)9S8, meaning FexNi9-xS8, where x is a variable number between 0 and 9. Sometimes a mineral with variable composition is split into separate species, more or less arbitrarily, forming a mineral group; that is the case of the silicates CaxMgyFe2-x-ySiO4, the olivine group. Besides the essential chemical composition and crystal structure, the description of a mineral species usually includes its common physical properties such as habit, hardness, lustre, diaphaneity, colour, streak, tenacity, cleavage, fracture, parting, specific gravity, magnetism, fluorescence, radioactivity, as well as its taste or smell and its reaction to acid. Minerals are classified by key chemical constituents; the two dominant systems are the Dana classification and the Strunz classification. Silicate minerals comprise approximately 90% of the Earth's crust. Other important mineral groups include the native elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates.

U.S. National Library of MedicineRate this definition:2.0 / 2 votes

1. Minerals

   Native, inorganic or fossilized organic substances having a definite chemical composition and formed by inorganic reactions. They may occur as individual crystals or may be disseminated in some other mineral or rock. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed; McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

Editors ContributionRate this definition:5.0 / 1 vote

1. minerals

   Plural form of mineral.

   The Earth's crust contains a variety of different minerals which we call a form of natural resources.

   
   

   Submitted by MaryC on January 19, 2016  

Anagrams for minerals »

1. marlines

How to pronounce minerals?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say minerals in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of minerals in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of minerals in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of minerals in a Sentence

1. Brett Hundley:

   I was on a Balchem conference call a few weeks ago and we asked the company if they were considering getting into cannabis, and the CEO talked about how we've been supplying minerals to grow houses, i literally watched the stock jump 2% from the time I asked the question to the time he answered it. Anything associated with cannabis today is getting an increase in market value.

2. Chief Executive Andre Lacroix:

   This is obviously a situation that we cannot ignore. This is 10 percent part of our earnings in total, it is reasonable to believe that the capex reductions will continue in the next few months ...We have to cycle through that time, and over time minerals and oil and gas will start growing again.

3. Jeff Wright:

   We've just found a way to make that a much faster process. Driving healthy calcium and phosphate minerals into your enamel, and through a natural process it will bind on and add to the enamel that's there.

4. Sarah Palin:

   I think a lot about the Department of Energy, because energy is my baby, oil and gas and minerals, those things that God has dumped on this part of the Earth for mankind's use, instead of relying on unfriendly foreign nations for us to import their resources, and if I were head of that.

5. Brandon Auerbach:

   In terms of health benefits, children need at least 1 to 2 servings of fruit each day, and 100% fruit juice has lots of vitamins, minerals and nutrients like antioxidants, our study findings support the current guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics on 100% fruit juice consumption.

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