Rocks And Minerals
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Rocks And Minerals
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the definition of a mineral is an inorganic
substance. Citrine is one of the most popular minerals. It is a variety of
quartz. Citrine is a yellowish-orange mineral. Citrine is a very popular
gemstone because it is very affordable and very pretty. Along with topaz,
citrine is the birthstone for the month of November and the anniversary gemstone
for the 17th year of marriage (www.jewelrymall.com). Citrine is also considered
a symbol of hope, youth, health, and fidelity (www.houseofonyx.com). In ancient
times, citrine was carried as a protection against snake venom and evil thoughts
(www.jewelers.net). Other names for citrine are Imperial Topaz, Oriental Topaz,
and Precious Topaz. Chemical Formula A chemical formula is what elements make up
the mineral (Feather & Snyder, 1999). These elements can be found on the
periodic table. The chemical formula of citrine is SiO2, which is silicon and
oxygen (www.galleries.com). Silicate or Non-silicate According to Webster’s
Dictionary, a silicate mineral is a combination of silicon, oxygen, and one or
more minerals. Because citrine is made up of silicon and oxygen, it is a
silicate mineral. Physical Properties The properties you can observe without
changing a substance into a new substance are physical properties (Feather &
Snyder, 1999). The five main physical properties in minerals are hardness,
cleavage, fracture, streak and luster. Hardness Hardness is a measure of how
easily a mineral can be scratched. Hardness is usually measured on Mohs hardness
scale. The scale is measured from one to ten, with one being the softest and 10
being the hardness (Feather & Snyder, 1999). All kinds of quartz have a
hardness of seven. Because citrine is in the quartz family, it has a hardness of
seven (www.galleries.com). Cleavage & Fracture Minerals that break along
smooth flat surfaces have cleavage. Cleavage is determined by the arrangement of
mineral’s atoms (Feather & Snyder, 1999). Citrine has no cleavage,
therefore it has fracture. Minerals that break with rough or jagged edges have
fracture. Citrine has fracture because it has no cleavage (Feather & Snyder,
1999). Streak The color of a mineral when it is broken up and powdered is called
streak (Feather & Snyder, 1999). The streak of citrine is white. Luster
Luster describes how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface (Feather
& Snyder, 1999). The luster of citrine is vitreous, or closely resembles
glass (www.minerals....
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