No, glass is not a mineral. Most glasses are actually a state of matter somewhere between liquid and solid and are often classified as rocks because often more than one mineral is present. In crystal glass and other man made glasses, quartz is the most important ingredient but other minerals are often added to enhance color, hardness and other qulaities.
Naturally occurring glass includes Obsidian, Pumice and fulgurites (sand hit by lightning)
The answer is "no", but not quite for the reason that Emily gave. A mineral is defined as a naturally occuring solid compound with a crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition. A glass fails to qualify as a mineral because it does not have a "crystalline structure".
A crystalline structure is a structure where the same group of atoms repeats itself over and over again.... almost like the bricks in a brick wall. The arrangement is very ordered... atoms line up wiht each other and each atom must go in a particular place. A glass, on the other hand, doesn't have this - the arrangments of atoms in a glass are more or less random. Atoms are haphazardly arranged and don't have the order that we see in crystalline substances, and all minerals are crystalline. This is why glass is not a mineral.
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No, glass is not a mineral. Most glasses are actually a state of matter somewhere between liquid and solid and are often classified as rocks because often more than one mineral is present. In crystal glass and other man made glasses, quartz is the most important ingredient but other minerals are often added to enhance color, hardness and other qulaities.
Naturally occurring glass includes Obsidian, Pumice and fulgurites (sand hit by lightning)
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The answer is "no", but not quite for the reason that Emily gave. A mineral is defined as a naturally occuring solid compound with a crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition. A glass fails to qualify as a mineral because it does not have a "crystalline structure".
A crystalline structure is a structure where the same group of atoms repeats itself over and over again.... almost like the bricks in a brick wall. The arrangement is very ordered... atoms line up wiht each other and each atom must go in a particular place. A glass, on the other hand, doesn't have this - the arrangments of atoms in a glass are more or less random. Atoms are haphazardly arranged and don't have the order that we see in crystalline substances, and all minerals are crystalline. This is why glass is not a mineral.