Miargyrite 3/7-3/11

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Summary:

This week we were learning about minerals. Each person chose a mineral that they wanted to learn about, and then they started researching about it. After that, we put our research into a magazine. We used jilster. The mineral that I chose was Miargyrite. What is that? Read on to find out...

 First we should check if miargyrite is even a mineral. Do you remember what it takes to be a mineral? Do you remember what each part means? We'll go over it.

 The first characteristic that it takes to be a mineral is naturally occurring (not made by humans.) Is miargyrite naturally occurring? Yes. It is formed in nature. It is not really known how miargyrite is formed, but we know that it is naturally occurring.

 The next fact we should check on is, is miargyrite inorganic? (Not alive.) We know that Miargyrite is not alive because it is not made up from plants or animals. It does not need food to survive. 

 The third feature that it needs is to be is a solid. (Does not take the shape of its container, and has a definite shape.) Miargyrite is definitely a solid because it does not take the shape of its container, and it has a shape that it always is in. 

 The next facts are that it needs to have a definite chemical composition and atomic arrangement. The chemical elements that make up the mineral should be arranged in a certain way. Researchers found out that the chemical formula of this mineral is AgSbS2. 

So... what do  you think? Is miargyrite a mineral? It passed 5/5 on the test, so that means it is a mineral. Here is a link to a website about miargyrite:
http://www.galleries.com/Miargyrite

Information:

Now that we know that miargyrite is a mineral, it is time for some interesting information about this mineral. Do you know where you can find it? Do you know what it looks like? You will find out soon.

Description:


Miargyrite is a silver sulfide mineral. Some other minerals in this family include pyrargyrite, polybasite, proustite, argyrodite, andorite, and more. Some people confuse miargyrite with these minerals.

Physical Characteristics:


The color of miargyrite is iron black to steel gray. The luster is metallic. Luster is the way it looks when light shines on it. The transparency is opaque. Opaque means not able to be seen through. The density is 5.19. The hardness is 2-2.5. This means that it can be scratched by anything that has a hardness higher than 2 or 2.5. (depending on the type.) This means that it is pretty soft. The streak is cherry-red. (What it looks like when it is in powdered form.)

Where can it be found?



Miargyrite can be found in Europe: Saxony, the Harz Mountain of Germany; Přibram, Czech Republic, Romania; Scientists also found it in South America: Chile and Bolivia; If you want to find in the USA, it rarely shows up in Idaho, Colorado, Arizona & California.

Interesting Facts:


  • Miargyrite is a very uncommon mineral. 
  • It is named after the Greek word Meion which means “less”, and Argyros which means “silver". This is because it contains a lower amount of silver than other silver ores.
  • This type of rock is a sedimentary rock. (made out of sediments.)

Conclusion:

I hope that you have learned a lot about miargyrite; or as greeks call it... "the lower amount of silver" from reading my blog. I am going to the Czech Republic soon, and I hope I can go to Přibram to find some miargyrite!

SP6: Constructing explanations and designing solutions:

I constructed an explanation of what miargyrite was when I was researching facts about it. It was difficult to find information about miargyrite because it is so uncommon, but as you can see I have managed to get quite a lot of data.

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