Minerals

Mineral. The word comes from

medieval Latin, minerale -- something mined. Minerals

have 5 requirements. They must be naturally

occurring, inorganic, solid, with a definite chemical

composition and an ordered internal structure.

Minerals have 7 properties: color, luster, hardness,

streak, cleavage, fracture, crystal form. There are over

2,000 known minerals in the world, with about a dozen

new minerals a year being discovered, and if you

discover a new one, you get to name it. Interesting fact: to maintain our American standard of living, each person in the US requires over 38,000 pounds of minerals each year.