A mineral is a solid material, made of one substance, that occurs naturally on Earth. Most of the common minerals are made of crystals. A Crystal is a solid formed by a repeating, three-dimensional pattern of atoms, ions, or molecules and having fixed distances between the different parts.

Minerals that do not grow in these regular or crystalline patterns are called Amorphous solids. Some minerals can be both crystalline and amorphous.

Quartz is a mineral made from one substance SiO2 (Silicon Oxide) that has a definite chemical composition. The quartz that you find in Asia has the same basic chemical make up as quartz found in Minnesota.

There are 92 naturally occurring elements on earth but only eight elements make over 98% of the minerals on the Earth's crust. They are, in decreasing quantity, 1 oxygen, 2 silicon, 3 aluminum, 4 iron, 5 calcium, 6 sodium, 7 potassium, 8 magnesium.

There are over 2000 minerals on Earth, but only 100 are commonly found.

30 minerals make up the majority of the rocks on Earth. You will be studying these minerals in this series of lessons. Rocks, as you learned in the last lesson, are made of two or more of these minerals.