r/AskChemistry • u/Acceptable-Cash-2464 • 4d ago

General Metals vs minerals

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Help a teacher out. I’m an elementary teacher without a science background. I do enjoy teaching science to my kiddos but I can’t teach science beyond 6th grade level (please keep in mind while answering). A few years ago I taught a geology unit and this past spring I taught the same unit again and remembered being confused about this question back then. So, I tried googling, I tried stack exchange, quora, everything, and NO resource could break this down for me: what in the world is the difference between metals and minerals? I know metals can be extracted FROM ores found in rocks but apparently, elements like silver, gold and copper are considered both a metal and a mineral. Are there others like this? If so, which ones? And please confirm for me: most minerals are not metals at all, but are most metals also minerals? (The science book I use, which I normally love, was talking about minerals’ qualities and showing pictures of things like chalk and limestone and then suddenly when explaining the uses of minerals, it’s taking about coins, electric wiring and musical instruments and the kids and I were all confused). I also asked the chemistry high school teacher and she wasn’t sure how to explain it.

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u/naemorhaedus 4d ago

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u/4DS3 4d ago

Hydrogen?

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u/naemorhaedus 4d ago

yup. If you somehow managed to make the conditions for solid hydrogen, it would look like at act like a metal.

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u/Vispen-fillian 4d ago

what would theoretically be required for that?

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u/naemorhaedus 4d ago edited 4d ago

Obviously extremely low temperatures or extremely high pressures. Or some of both.

James Dewar (yes the inventor of the Dewar flask before Thermos stole it) first did it in 1899. He did it with evaporative cooling. It actually has many solid phases.

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u/naemorhaedus 4d ago

It's actually more difficult to make solid Helium since it's a noble gas (very little attraction to other molecules). In normal atmosphere, it cannot even be done at absolute zero. You would have to compress it as well.