HOW MINERALS FORM
How Do Minerals Form?
- Minerals form through processes called ______________________.
- Crystallization is a “crystal-forming process”. As you know, minerals are crystals!
- Remember though, while all minerals are crystals, not all crystals are minerals.
o Sugar is a crystal…Why is it not a mineral?
o _____________________________________________.
- Minerals (crystals) can form in two ways:
1. ___________________________
2. ___________________________
Cooling of Magma
- Magma is _________________________ liquefied into a pool
of elements.
o Things like Fe, Mg, Ca are all _______________ around
in the liquid magma.
- Just like water cooling to form ice, ___________ can ________
so the ______________ in the liquid _____________________.
- The elements ___________ and _______________________ to
________________________ and fall out of the liquid magma.
- The size of the mineral crystal depends on ______________________________________…
o Magma that cools _____________:
 The minerals crystals do not have time to grow
so they are _____________.
 _____________________________________
o Magma that cools _____________:
 The minerals crystals have lots of time to grow
so they are _____________.
 ______________________________________
Check your understanding!!!
- Where would magma cool slowest?
-
Where would it cool fastest?
-
Where would we find large crystals in minerals?
Solution Evaporation
- Minerals ________________ in _____________ and create a
________________________.
- Eventually, the water will evaporate and the minerals will
_____________________ of solution and be _________________.
- When minerals fall out of a solution they are said to ____________.
- Example: ______________________ evaporating with salt crystals
left behind.
HOW MINERALS FORM
REVIEW QUESTIONS:
1. The process by which atoms are arranged to form a material with a crystal structure is referred to as _
2. In what two ways do minerals form?
3. Lava cools and forms large mineral crystals, the rate of cooling must have been?
a. Fast
b. Slow
4. The diagrams below show the crystals of four different rocks viewed through the same hand lens. Which crystals
most likely formed from molten material that cooled and solidified most rapidly?
a.
b.
c.
d.
5. Why does magma that cools deep below the surface have large crystals?
6. A mixture in which one substance dissolves in another is called a(n) ____________________.
7. How do minerals form from a hot water solution?
8. A narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is much different from the surrounding rock is called a(n)
______________________.