BA2 - Researching Materials

Molten Lava

Lava is made up of crystals, volcanic glass, and bubbles (volcanic gases). As magma gets closer to the surface and cools, it begins to crystallize minerals like olivine and form bubbles of volcanic gases. When lava erupts it is made up of a slush of crystals, liquid, and bubbles. The liquid "freezes" to form volcanic glass.

Chemically lava is made of the elements silicon, oxygen, aluminum, iron, magnesium, calcium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and titanium (plus other elements in very small concentrations. Have a look at the background information in Minerals, Magma, and Volcanic Rocks.

- http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/what-lava-made

The most common type of magma produced is basalt (the stuff that is erupted at mid-ocean ridges to make up the ocean floors, as well as the stuff that is erupted in Hawai'i). Soon after they're formed, little drops of basaltic magma start to work their way upward (their density is slightly less than that of the solid rock), and pretty soon they join with other drops and eventually there is a good flow of basaltic magma towards the surface. If it makes it to the surface it will erupt as basaltic lava.

- http://volcano.oregonstate.edu/how-lava-formed

Gold:

n attractive and highly valued metal, gold has been known for at least 5500 years. Gold is sometimes found free in nature but it is usually found in conjunction with silver, quartz (SiO2), calcite (CaCO3), lead, tellurium, zinc or copper. There is roughly 1 milligram of gold dissolved in every ton of seawater, although extracting it currently costs more than the gold is worth. It has been estimated that all of the gold that has currently been refined could be placed in a cube measuring 20 meters on a side.

Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all known metals. A single ounce of gold can be beaten into a sheet measuring roughly 5 meters on a side. Thin sheets of gold, known as gold leaf, are primarily used in arts and crafts for gilding. One sheet of gold leaf can be as thin as 0.000127 millimeters, or about 400 times thinner than a human hair.

Pure gold is soft and is usually alloyed with other metals, such as silver, copper, platinum or palladium, to increase its strength. Gold alloys are used to make jewelry, decorative items, dental fillings and coins. The amount of gold in an alloy is measured with a unit called a carat. One carat is equal to one part in twenty-four, so an 18 carat gold ring contains 18 parts pure gold and 6 parts alloy material.

Gold is a good conductor of heat and electricity and does not tarnish when it is exposed to the air, so it can be used to make electrical connectors and printed circuit boards. Gold is also a good reflector of infrared radiation and can be used to help shield spacecraft and skyscrapers from the sun's heat. Gold coated mirrors can be used to make telescopes that are sensitive to infrared light.

- http://education.jlab.org/itselemental/ele079.html

Oxidised Copper:

Copper Oxidizes when exposed to the atmosphere due to the reaction with Oxygen. The reaction takes place when water, moisture condensation or rain, in which oxygen is dissolved is in contact with copper. Copper exhibits good resistance to corrosion in urban, marine, and industrial atmospheres. The major factors that control the initial rate of attack on copper, and that cause copper to oxidize, are moisture, temperature, and the level of pollution. Soon after exposure of copper to the atmosphere, due to the fact that copper oxidize, the bright copper surface takes on a dull tan tarnish.

After a few years this tarnish gradually changes to dark brown or black. At a later stage the corrosion products of copper turn green due to the formation of copper sulfate, carbonate and chloride salts in varying concentrations.

- http://www.corrosionist.com/Why_Does_Copper_Oxidize.htm

Flourite: Fluorite is a very popular mineral, and it naturally occurs in all colors of the spectrum. It is one of the most varied colored minerals in the mineral kingdom, and the colors may be very intense and almost electric. Pure Fluorite is colorless; the color variations are caused by various impurities. Some colors are deeply colored, and are especially pretty in large well-formed crystals, which Fluorite often forms. Sometimes coloring is caused by hydrocarbons, which can be removed from a specimen by heating. Some dealers may apply oil treatment upon amateur Fluorite specimens to enhance luster.

Fluorite is one of the more famous fluorescent minerals. Many specimens strongly fluoresce, in a great variation of color. In fact, the word "fluorescent" is derived from the mineral Fluorite. The name of the element fluorine is also derived from Fluorite, as Fluorite is by far the most common and well-known fluorine mineral.

- http://www.minerals.net/mineral/fluorite.aspx

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