Today we’ll talk about what minerals are. Their properties and application will also be considered. In our country, industry is actively developing. This is necessary in order to improve the standard of living. To do this, we need more and more resources and materials. Most of this raw material is extracted by man from the bowels of planet Earth. The well-being of all mankind depends on its reserves. Children learn mineral properties in class (grade 3). Apparently, the state wants to grow competent ecologists and power engineers! It will be useful for our planet.
What it is?
Almost everyone knows what minerals are. The properties of these resources tell us that they are extracted from the bowels of the earth. This raw material can be solid (mineral), liquid (oil) and even gaseous (natural gas). All fossils are called useful. And this means that the substances extracted by man are beneficial. What mineral properties do you know?
Urgent problem
It would seem that there is nothing complicated in this matter. We know a lot about resources such as minerals. The properties, application and composition of these gifts of nature we studied back in school. However, there is a fine line, which is associated with an understanding of what is useful to man. Many eras and centuries passed before our ancestors could understand the usefulness of the stone found on the banks of the river. For a very long time they learned to process this find so that it could be used as a digging stick.
A great amount of time passed before a person realized that under his feet, in the earth's crust, there are a myriad of reserves of ore, minerals and other useful raw materials. For several centuries, man has been extracting minerals, using them for his own good. A difficult problem arises: when a person raises all these fossils to the surface, then the interior of the Earth is exhausted. All this leads to disruption of the geological structure, the earth’s surface is overloaded with mineral processing products, as well as waste generated during their processing. Every year this environmental problem becomes more acute, a person is forced to look for new ways of mining and processing minerals.
Classification
Minerals, the properties and application of which we will consider in the framework of this article, have a large number of classifications. Let's look at them in detail. So, geologists have identified:
- fossil fuels;
- metal ores;
- colored stones;
- building minerals.
Colored stones
Colored miners are a special family of solid materials. He was attributed to minerals. They are not used as fuel, are not used to produce various metals or any products of the production of chemical raw materials. They are divided into two groups:
- Transparent minerals are gems or gems. For example: emerald, aquamarine, diamond, topaz, ruby, amethyst and others.
- opaque minerals or semi-precious and ornamental stones. For example: malachite, pearls, amber, jasper, agate, lapis lazuli and so on.
Let's take a closer look at precious and semiprecious stones. Diamond is of interest to most gem producers. It received its name from the Greek word "adamas", which means "indestructible" in translation. Indeed, it is the hardest mineral in nature, which means that it is used not only in jewelry, but also in the main technical production. Diamond is used for polishing and grinding various solids. It is used for drilling very deep wells. Particularly hard drills are made from the mineral. Also, metals are processed using diamond. Hard incisors are made of stone.
Today, scientists have achieved that they can get diamonds artificially , but they are used for technical purposes. Chemists have come to the conclusion that diamond is carbon in its composition. It is amazing how much carbon differs in different minerals. Graphite is also based on carbon. But he can no longer boast of such hardness as a diamond. In addition, the mineral is famous for its play of light. If sunlight passes through the stone, then we can observe with you various bright reflections - from blue to red shades. A man saw all the beauty of diamonds only in the 18th century, when he learned to make a special cut that turns a stone into a brilliant diamond. But they are no longer used for technical purposes. A diamond is a stone designed for jewelry.
Fossil fuels
Valuable minerals for humans, the properties have different. It is easy to guess that they include peat, coal, natural gas, oil and oil shale. It turns out that these fossils are used not only as fuel. Oil, gas, coal and peat are used today by power plants and various industrial enterprises. But this group of minerals is also widely used for other purposes, especially in the chemical industry. Such substances are formed and mined on the site of former lakes, which over time turned into a swamp, and then - in the plains. For many years, various chemical processes took place at the bottom of these reservoirs : deposits of plant residues and other organisms. Over the years, they rotted, then turned into sapropel. Many have not even heard such a word; in Greek, it means “rotten” and “dirt”. Thus, sapropel is dirt from decaying remains of living organisms. It becomes peat bogs or turns into brown coal.
Scientists have noticed that the process of forming fossil fuels is very complex and long, it requires a lot of time. For example, peatlands generally form over several millennia. Environmentalists say that it is necessary to know and remember lovers of drainage of swamps. The very first places of oil shale mining appeared more than a billion years ago. Almost half of all oil shales appeared in the Paleozoic era. Coal seams were formed about 350 million years ago. In those distant times, our planet resembled the lush thickets of giant ferns, horsetails and plunders. Thanks to these plants, the soil did not have time to rot, turning into wood pulp. Plants and trees that died off fell into the water, were covered with clay and sand, did not decompose, but gradually formed and turned into coal. If you take a piece of such coal in your hand, you can safely imagine that now in your palm is a guest from the distant past.
Ores
We move on to the next category - metal ores. On the outskirts of cities very often there are ads on the reception of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. You should know that a black resource does not look at all black in color. These are metals that are used in the production of cast iron and steel by smelting. These include iron, manganese, vanadium or chromium. They come in silver or white. Non-ferrous metals include nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead and others. Most of them formed in the deep rocks of magma. Gradually they rise to the earth's surface. Due to the natural effects of air, sun and water, mountains are destroyed, and in their sedimentary rocks metal deposits appear and open to humans.
Metals are used in light and heavy industries. They make weapons, parts for vehicles, and so on. The strength of the product depends on what material it was made of. Steel is famous for its strength. Aluminum is widely used in aircraft construction because it is very light. And the electrical wiring is made of copper, as it conducts the electric current best.
Construction Materials
The properties of minerals have been valued since ancient times. Of these, man built various buildings. For example, ancient civilizations of marble, granite or limestone built various occult objects - temples, obelisks, pyramids and so on. Limestone was very easily sawn into blocks, so the ancient Egyptian pyramids were built from this fossil.
Mineral properties : clay and sand
Man began to use clay for the manufacture of dishes, bricks, tiles and various other items of plumbing. It is known that it is used now as a heater. She has a great property - waterproof. Clay has healing properties. It comes in different colors. Red clay contains iron and potassium. The green substance has copper and iron in it. Cobalt was found in blue clay. Carbon and iron are found in dark brown and black clay.
Minerals: sand
The properties of clay and sand are very valuable to humanity. This is a kind of first building materials. They learned to make glass from sand. To wash the dishes, sand and water were often used. This mixture perfectly washed any dirt. Even from school, we begin to study the properties of minerals (Grade 3). People use these resources everywhere. But are they endless? An important task of all mankind is to learn to rationally use what nature gives us.