Rocks and Minerals
Characteristics
Minerals:
- Forms in nature
- Solid
- Has definite chemical makeup
- Crystal structure
- Forms in nature
- Solid
- Made of 1 or more type of mineral
Examples
- Mercury: thermometers
- Fluorite: toothpaste
- Talc: lipstick and powder
- Gold: jewelry
- Steel: cars
- Aluminum: planes
- Tungsten: light bulbs
- Graphite: paints and pencils
- Silver: film and batteries
- Clay: flower pots
Why it is Important
Rocks and minerals are very important to us. We use them everyday and almost everything we use is made of a rock or mineral. If we didn't have rocks and minerals in our lives we wouldn't be able to do much.