Elements

Most minerals are compounds, which means that they are combinations of elements. Some minerals are elements by themselves. This means that their chemical formula is very simple (see below).

These elements are, of course, part of other minerals as well. There is a whole section on copper compounds. Carbon (graphite) happens in many minerals, particularly combined with oxygen. Sulphur likes combining with metals. Gold isn't reactive, which is why it doesn't rust or tarnish. This means that you do not get gold compounds.

Copper

Graphite

Diamond

Sulphur

Silver

Gold

What the letters mean

List of elements in order of symbol
Index of elements by name
Index of elements by atomic number
Most common elements in the earth's crust

Each mineral has a chemical formula, and you will see them throughout this web site. You may wonder what this collection of letters means.

A mineral is a compound. Each molecule of it is made up of a number of atoms, from different elements. The letters give the element, and the numbers give the number of atoms of that element there are in a molecule. A few minerals, like those above, just contain a single element, so you can see what they look like, but most elements don't happen by themselves in minerals - in fact, some are gases.

It is sometimes strange to see what elements combine to make a compound. Sodium, a soft metal which fizzes violently when put into water, and chlorine, a poisonous gas, make sodium chloride (NaCl), otherwise known as common salt!

The elements are usually arranged in the Periodic Table. Since you can find the Periodic Table on the Web, I decided to give a simple list of just the elements that are in the minerals on this website. Each element starts with its symbol or letter/s. If these sometimes look funny, it's because they can be the initials of their Latin name rather than the English one. This is followed by its atomic number, which gives some idea of its weight, and also helps to find it in a Periodic Table. The links take you to a mineral that contains that element. Hydrogen and oxygen don't have links, as they are in so many formulae.

List of elements in the minerals in this website, by symbol

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Ag	47	Silver	Shiny precious metal
Al	13	Aluminium	A shiny light metal
As	33	Arsenic	Used in semiconductors and poisons
Au	79	Gold	Yellow precious metal
B	5	Boron	Dark brown powder. Used in borax, a water softener
Ba	56	Barium	Very reactive metal
Be	4	Beryllium	Silvery white metal. Used to make transitors
C	6	Carbon	Usually a soft black solid, except when it's a diamond
Ca	20	Calcium	A silvery grey metal, which turns white quickly in air, and fizzes in water
Cl	17	Chlorine	Pale yellowish-green gas. Used in swimming pools. Similar to fluorine
Co	27	Cobalt	A hard metal, used to plate other metals
Cr	24	Chromium	A shiny metal, used to make permanent magnets
Cu	29	Copper	A pinkish brown metal
Fe	26	Iron	Grey metal
F	9	Fluorine	Pale greenish-yellow gas
H	1	Hydrogen	A colourless flammable gas. Very light
Hg	80	Mercury	Liquid silver metal
K	3	Potassium	Silvery highly reactive metal. If you put it in water it burns.
Li	3	Lithium	Metal used to make batteries
Mg	12	Magnesium	Silvery-white metal used in flash bulbs
Mn	25	Manganese	Metal used to make steel (with iron)
Mo	42	Molybdenum	Silvery metal used as a solid lubricant
Na	11	Sodium	A soft reactive metal. Used in street lights
Nb	41	Niobium	Grey metal
O	8	Oxygen	A colourless gas. Essential for life. Tends to make things catch fire
P	15	Phosphorus	Off-white waxy solid, prone to catch fire
Pb	82	Lead	Dull grey poisonous heavy metal
S	16	Sulphur	Smelly yellow solid
Sb	51	Antimony	Metal used in the past for medicine and cosmetics
Sn	50	Tin	Metal used to stop other metals from rusting
Si	14	Silicon	Greyish metallic looking solid. Used in computers
Sr	38	Strontium	Silvery white metal. Used in fireworks
Ta	73	Tantalum	Silvery metal
Ti	22	Titanium	Metal with a very high melting point. Used to make high-speed planes
U	92	Uranium	Bluish white radioactive metal. Used for nuclear powere and atom bombs
V	23	Vanadium	Silvery grey metal. Used to make sulphuric acid
Zn	30	Zinc	Shiny metal. Used to make brass (with copper)
Zr	40	Zirconium	Steel-white metal. Zircalloy (with tin, chromium and nickel) is corrosion-resistant.

Index of elements in my minerals by name

Aluminium
Antimony
Arsenic
Barium
Beryllium
Boron

Calcium
Carbon
Chlorine
Chromium
Cobalt
Copper

Fluorine
Gold
Hydrogen
Iron
Lead
Lithium

Magnesium
Manganese
Mercury
Molybdenum
Niobium
Oxygen

Phosphorus
Potassium
Silicon
Silver
Sodium
Sulphur
Strontium

Tantalum
Tin
Titanium
Uranium
Vanadium
Zinc
Zirconium

Index of elements in the minerals on this website by atomic number

This is arranged in the form of the periodic table, but there are gaps, since my collection of minerals does not contain every element. The noble gases won't combine with any other element, so don't form part of natural minerals. Some elements are not found in Nature, and some are very rare. Surprisingly enough, nitrogen is in very few minerals, although every living creature contains nitrogen. Since I have only included elements that exist in my mineral collection, there are a few common elements missing. I'm annoyed I haven't got a nickle compound, for example!

1
3	4										5	6		8	9
11	12										13	14	15	16	17
19	20		22	23	24	25	26	27	29	30			33
	38		40	41	42				47			50	51
	56			73					79	80		82
		92

The most common elements in the earth's crust

47.2% Oxygen
28.2% Silicon
8.2% Aluminium
5.1% Iron
3.7% Calcium
2.9% Sodium
2.6% Potassium
2.1% Magnesium

1
3	4										5	6		8	9
11	12										13	14	15	16	17
19	20		22	23	24	25	26	27	29	30			33
	38		40	41	42				47			50	51
	56			73					79	80		82
		92

1
3	4										5	6		8	9
11	12										13	14	15	16	17
19	20		22	23	24	25	26	27	29	30			33
	38		40	41	42				47			50	51
	56			73					79	80		82
		92

1
3	4										5	6		8	9
11	12										13	14	15	16	17
19	20		22	23	24	25	26	27	29	30			33
	38		40	41	42				47			50	51
	56			73					79	80		82
		92