Physical characteristics make most minerals easily identifiable. For instance, if a previously unknown mineral scratches fluorite but not feldspar or apatite, then its hardness on the Mohs scale likely exceeds five.
Minerals are naturally-occurring solids characterized by distinct chemical composition and predictable atomic arrangements, found throughout nature. Rocks contain one or more minerals mixed together through geological processes.
Crystallization
Crystallization is the physical transformation of liquid, solution or gas into mineral solids with an ordered internal arrangement of molecules, ions or atoms. Many chemicals of industrial, scientific and commercial significance such as metals, salts, sugars, drugs and foods contain crystals forming the interior structure.
Crystallization takes place through two steps: nucleation and growth. Nucleation begins when solute molecules or atoms dispersed throughout a solvent begin to collect in microscopic clusters which become stable under current operating conditions; temperature, supersaturation levels, or any other factor may influence this critical cluster size.
Once sufficient nuclei have formed, they can combine and eventually result in the growth of a crystal with specific morphology – this process is known as crystal growth and typically takes place at lower supersaturations levels. By choosing optimal operating conditions such as using ReactIR and ReactRaman with automated reactors, scientists can systematically examine solution composition and particle unit cell configuration until reaching their desired process endpoint every time.
Cleavage
Cleavage refers to the early cell divisions that take place as a fertilized egg develops into an embryo. It’s an entirely natural process and produces a mass of different cells called blastomeres that form an embryo.
Cleavage can take place either completely, as in sea urchin and mammal eggs that contain no yolk (telolecithal), or partially, such as in the case of frog embryos that contain modest quantities of yolk (isolecithal). Either way, first cell division produces four macromeres known as blastomeres that each represent one quadrant of an embryo that’s developing.
Cleavage refers to the space between a woman’s breasts that’s exposed by a low-cut neckline. Also used politically to describe the area between conservative and liberal wings of a party. Gemstones with perfect cleavage often break in specific directions that make polishing them difficult – this causes fracture patterns such as conchoidal, fibrous/splintery/hackly and uneven breaks that make polishing them impossible.
Origin
Minerals form under various geologic conditions, from crystallization in melts to weathering and erosion of older rocks; metamorphism due to changes in temperature or pressure; hydrothermalism from hot solutions in Earth’s interior, or hydrothermally through precipitation from hot solutions within Earth itself. Minerals are defined as any natural solid substance with an ordered arrangement of atoms or ions within; those without defined crystal structures are called mineraloids.
Graphite, for instance, is a highly stable form of carbon that’s widely used in pencils to generate electricity. Phosphate encourages plant growth and is an ingredient found in commercial fertilizers; minerals also play an integral part in everyday products we rely on such as building materials, paint, ceramics, glass, paper electronics detergents and medications.
