Minerals are fundamental components of rocks and have great economic and commercial significance to humans. Therefore, geologists need a set of characteristics to identify and describe what makes an object a mineral versus something synthetic (such as plastic, for example). The criteria that defines matter as a mineral is that it is inorganic, composed of an orderly crystalline structure, solid, naturally occurring, and can be expressed by a chemical formula. Some matter looks very similar to minerals, but does not quite meet the criteria. For example, consider glass and quartz. Both are transparent and can have similar appearance. Glass does not have an orderly internal structure; its silica atoms are randomly arranged. Thus it is not a mineral. Quartz, however, has an organized chemical structure of silica atoms, each surrounded by four oxygen atoms and is a mineral.

What is the northern most national park in the world

In which area will soil formation be greatest? a a steep slope in a warm,b wet climate a flat area in a warm,c wet climate a north-facing area on a steep slope a flat area in a cold, d wet climate description

If you could drill a hole straight to the center of the earth, and keep track of what the hole is going through, youwould find: a) you would go through one sort of material, and then a different, denser material, and then a still-different, still-denser material, because the planet is made of concentric layers, sort of like an onion.b) you would go through one sort of material all the way to the center, because the planet is all mixed up.c) if your hole started at the north pole, you would go through different layers of different materials, but ifyour hole started at the equator, you would go through one sort of material all the way to the center.d) if your hole started at the equator, you would go through different layers of different materials, but if yourhole started at the north pole, you would go through one sort of material all the way to the center.e) you would strike diet pepsi when you got to the center.