Water, Minerals, Rocks, and Matter Properties

Unit 9: Water and the Hydrosphere

Groundwater

• 97% Saltwater
• 3% Freshwater

Ocean water has three types of movements: waves, currents, and tides.

Freshwater can be found in various forms: lakes, rivers, streams, groundwater, wetlands, and glaciers.

Water Cycle

• Evaporation: Water (Liquid) > Gas. Hydrosphere > Atmosphere.
• Condensation: Water (Gas) > Liquid. Forms dew and clouds, which can cause precipitation.
• Runoff: Surface water movement through the earth’s surface, forming rivers and streams.
• Infiltration: Penetration of surface water into the ground. Most effective when the soil is more porous.

Tema 10: Minerals

Minerals are solids formed by the chemical combination of elements in the earth’s crust. Rocks are composed of minerals.

Minerals are pure substances whose composition involves a single type of substance.

Silicates

They are a group of minerals containing silicon and oxygen.

Non-Silicates

These are a group of minerals that do not contain silicon in their composition.

Properties of Minerals

• Color: The kind of light that reflects when illuminated with white light.
• Brightness: The way it reflects light.
• Hardness: Resistance to being scratched.
• Streak: Color of the mineral in powdered form.
• Cleavage: The property of breaking into fragments that remain flat.

Tema 11: Rocks

Rocks are composed of mineral grains bonded together. If all grains are of the same mineral, it is a monomineral rock.

Sedimentary Rocks

They usually form in layers called strata.

• Detrital: Consisting of fragments of various minerals and rocks, linked together.
• Limestones: Mainly made of calcite.
• Evaporitic: Monomineral rocks formed by salt precipitation as water evaporates.
• Organic: Formed by the accumulation of organic matter like wood and other debris. Examples are coal and oil.

Magmatic Rocks

Formed from the mixture of molten rock and gases called magma. Rocks formed when magma solidifies are magmatic.

• Plutonic: When the magma stays at a certain depth and cools slowly.
• Volcanic: When the magma reaches the surface and an eruption occurs.

Metamorphic Rocks

These are subjected to high pressures and temperatures.

• Foliated: Some clay minerals originate mica crystals that are white and black blades.
• Non-Foliated: They are homogeneous, irregularly shaped, and break without separating into layers.

Item 12: The Field and Its Properties

The properties that allow us to distinguish one substance from another are called properties.

All properties that we measure are called magnitudes.

Area

Volume

Space occupied by a body.

Mass

Quantity of a solid product.

Density

The amount of material in relation to the space it occupies.

Tema 13: Matter and States

• Solids: Have their own form and fixed volume.
• Liquids: No proper form, fixed volume, and can flow.
• Gases: No form of their own, no fixed volume, and can flow.

Homogeneous: We do not distinguish components.

Heterogeneous: We distinguish components.