Re: Mineral Definition

"Alastair McDonald" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> "Bob" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
> news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > I am stumbling to find a true definition of a mineral, to help me
> > figure out if the following are indeed considered minerals:  A bone -
> > A shell from a crustacean, Petrifed wood, a fossil, and Coal.  Can
> > anyone help out there - thanks - Bob
> 
> All those items are mineral (adjective) but they are not minerals
> (noun).  Minerals are pure chemical compounds (and elements)
> from which rocks are composed. Rocks are also mineral, but not
> minerals unless they are pure.  See;
> http://webmineral.com/Mineral_Definition.shtml
> 
> The first definition has a typing error. It should read "A mineral is
> an element OR chemical compound ..."
> 
> HTH,
> 
> Cheers,  Alastair.
Thanks Alastair,
Embarrassingly enough, I am a middle school biology teacher who was
being drilled by one of my students on this.  He had a very weak
definition of a mineral that included that it must be inorganic,
though didn't quite specify ever at one point being of organic
origins.  I just wanted some clarification, and this helped
tremendously,
Thanks again, Bob