Mineral
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
Related e |
Featured: |
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.
A mineral is a naturally occurring substance that is solid and stable at room temperature, representable by a chemical formula, usually abiogenic, and has an ordered atomic structure. It is different from a rock, which can be an aggregate of minerals or non-minerals, and does not have a specific chemical composition. The exact definition of a mineral is under debate, especially with respect to the requirement a valid species be abiogenic, and to a lesser extent with regards to it having an ordered atomic structure. The study of minerals is called mineralogy.
Etymology
From Middle English mineral, borrowed from Old French mineral, (French minéral), from Medieval Latin minerale, from minera (“ore”).
See also
- Crystallised Minerals by Alexandre Isidore Leroy de Barde.
- List of minerals
- List of minerals (complete)
- Dietary mineral
- Mineral collecting
- Nonmineral