Mineral Chemistry

Abstract

The Earth is composed of rocks. Rocks are aggregates of minerals. Minerals are composed of atoms. In order to understand rocks, we must first have an understanding of minerals. In order to understand minerals we must have some basic understanding of atoms—what they are and how they interact with one another to form minerals. A particular mineral cannot be formed unless the chemical ingredients necessary to make the mineral are present. Thus, the most common minerals are those that have a chemical composition made of the common elements found in their environment. The atomic bonds of minerals, rules governing the chemistry of the minerals, the different modes of their formation, inter-relationship between mineral species form the basis of mineral chemistry and shall be discussed in this chapter.