Chemical bonding describes how these atoms attach with each other to form compounds, such as sodium and chlorine combining to form NaCl, common table salt.
This helped me understand that minerals are basically made from atoms bonding together, not just random materials.
ron and magnesium in the olivine family indicate a solid solution forming a compositional series within the mineral group which can form crystals of all iron as one end member and all mixtures of iron and magnesium in between to all magnesium at the other end member
I didn't know minerals could have different compositions within the same group, it's interesting how iron and magnesium can replace each other.
Precipitation is the reverse process, in which ions in solution come together to form solid minerals. Precipitation is dependent on the concentration of ions in solution and other factors such as temperature and pressure. The point at which a solvent cannot hold any more solute is called saturation. Precipitation can occur when the temperature of the solution falls, when the solute evaporates, or with changing chemical conditions in the solution.
This made it easier to understand how minerals form because it's basically the opposite of dissolving, where things come back together into a solid.
alcite crystals show an interesting property called birefringence, meaning they polarize light into two wave components vibrating at right angles to each other. As the two light waves pass through the crystal, they travel at different velocities and are separated by refraction into two different travel path
I thought it was interesting that calcite has birefringence because it shows how minerals don't just have physical properties, but can also affect light in unique ways.
Geologists identify minerals by their physical properties.
This made me realize how important physical properties like streak and hardness are, especially since color alone isn't always reliable.