One should know that the mineral is a natural occurring solid who's formation happens through geological processes which has a characteristic chemical composition which has a large atomic structure along with specific physical properties. To understand mineral one can see rock which don not required any specific chemical composition. Minerals range in composition from the pure elements to the simple salts and to the extent of very complex silicates along with several known forms. So the readers of minerals is also known as mineralogy.
In order to get classified as a pure mineral, the substance should be in solid state having crystalline structure. Minerals should act as a homogeneous substance having a defined chemical composition. Accordingh to the International Mineralogical Association the definition of mineral goes like this defined in the year 1995 : a mineral is an element or chemical compound which is crystalline and obtained from the geological processes. The chemical composition differs among end members of the mineral system. Mineral-like substances which do not shows the properties of minerals are defined as sometimes as mineraloids. There are many other natural-occurring substances such as nonminerals. Minerals do get its name as per the usage in various fields such as industrial minerals used in the market and commercially as mined materials .
Crystal structure has the ability of influencing the mineral's physical properties. Diamond and graphite carries the same composition where graphite is found to be highly soft and diamond as the hardest of all known minerals. As per the reports of the International Mineralogical Association there are 4000 minerals found in the nature. So to know more about minerals people should read magazines and booklets to get benefitted from minerals source. Classifying minerals is not an easy task as it ranges from simple to very difficult. A mineral is identified by many physical properties. In many cases, minerals are classified as more complex chemical and X-ray diffraction analysis.
