Rocks & Minerals, November 1st, 2005
The two most fundamental properties that characterize a mineral and distinguish it from other minerals are its chemical composition (the elements of which it is made and their relative proportions) and crystal structure (the three-dimensional arrangement of its constituent atoms or ions). Thus, a given mineral has a specific composition that in part defines it. For example, the mineral quartz contains oxygen and silicon in a fixed ratio of 20:1Si. That is, for every two oxygen ions there is one silicon ion. This is indicated by the subscripts in the chemical formula of quartz, Si[O.sub.2]. S...
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