Question

Define the term mineral.

Answer 1

Hint: Chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many type of identical molecules which further made up of atoms from more than one element are held together with the help of chemical bonds present between them.

Complete answer:
Minerals are generally studied in geology i.e. study earth science and a special branch of science known as mineralogy which basically studies minerals. A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and a crystalline structure. Whereas crystalline structure is that type of solid in which it has definite chemical composition, fixed order of molecules, rigid in nature.
The earth is basically composed of mineral elements; it may be in alone form or in a myriad of combinations known as compounds. A mineral is composed of a single element or compound. Minerals are known to be an important part of our everyday life and make up most of the earth. There are also few organic materials which we use as ornaments like silver, gold, diamond etc and these are present in the earth’s crust. Today there are more than thousands of minerals recognized by scientists but only some of them are commonly used or we can say commonly known to everybody.
Hence mineral is defined as a naturally occurring inorganic solid having a definite chemical composition and a crystalline structure.

Note:
Minerals are generally of two types known by the name metallic and non-metallic minerals whereas metallic minerals are lustrous in nature and consist of metals in their chemical composition and non-metallic minerals are minerals which either show non-metallic luster in their appearance.