E A R T H M A T E R I A L S

Welcome to

Your host: Dr. Jonathan Price

Office: 1W19*Phone:276-2372

E-mail: pricej@rpi.edu

Office hours: Mon 9-10 or by appt.

Class Website: http://ees2.geo.rpi.edu/Earth_Mat/

*Two floors directly below this room

Before we begin,

the rules…

Required Text: Wenk and Bulakh, Minerals, Their

Constitution and Origin

Optional Text: Simon and Shuster’s Guide to Rocks and

Minerals (or equivalent)

Exams: There will be three (3) 1-hour exams. The third of these

will be administered during finals week.

Projects: There will be one (1) term paper

Field Trip: One (1) day-long trip to the Adirondacks, one or two

lab-period trips, and one additional field

opportunity.

Required learning aids

Scientific calculator

Periodic table of the elements (with numbers, weights,

atomic diameters, and electronegativity) - preferably

one you are able to annotate.

Colored pencils (4 or more different colors)

Ruler (with metric scale)

Access to a computer outside of class

Optional: magnifier or hand lens

Attendance: Required. You may miss up to 3 of the

lecture periods and 2 of the lab periods without penalty.

For every period missed beyond the limit, I will subtract

two percentage points from your final numerical score.

Note: you are still responsible for missed assignments

(most labs will include an assignment).

Expected Background: Knowledge of basic chemistry is

assumed; review will be provided where appropriate.

Although the course is not mathematically intensive, an

appreciation of the fundamentals of geometry, algebra, and

calculus is important.

Grading:

Best Exam 25% of final grade

Middle Exam 25%

Worst Exam 10%

Term paper 10%

Homework/Lab 30 %

Grades may be appealed in person or in writing. Dr.

Price has the final say on specific unresolvable issues

related to grading.

Statement on Academic Integrity: As a student, you must

have confidence that the instructors made appropriate

decisions about the structure and content of this course, and

that we will make a strong effort to accommodate the

varying needs of a diverse group of students. We, in turn,

must have confidence that the report, assignments, and

exams that you complete are your own work.

The Rensselaer Handbook defines various forms of

academic dishonesty and procedures of responding to these.

All forms are violations of student-teacher trust. Students

should familiarize themselves with the appropriate portion

of the Rensselaer Handbook and note that the penalties for

plagiarism and other forms of cheating are quite harsh.

Group participation is encouraged on the following

(unless specified otherwise):

1. Homework assignments

2. Lab exercises

3. Preparation for exams

4. Term projects

Note: In most cases you are required to submit work

in that reflects your own individual understanding!

Examinations will be an individual effort. Any

attempt to compromise the integrity of a test or quiz

will result in a zero grade for that examination.

Thinking is mandatory!

A word about vocabulary

Even science majors will be exposed to a large

number of new terms during the course of this

class. Bare in mind that these new terms are

necessary to facilitate communication. Ask

questions anytime you do not understand a word

or a concept. Familiarize yourself with the

material on a daily basis.

What is Science?

• Observation

Independent of the individual observer

• Explanation

Consistent with other explanations

• Prediction

Ideas are transferable in time and space

• Validation / Observation

Further observations validate or rejectexplanation

Science is driven by critical thought

Observation

The above graph shows a relationship between automobile mileage

and temperature.

Generally: MPG ! T Specifically: MPG = (T - 25)2

Scientific Law

• Describes a phenomena

• Relative to measurable parameters

• Is repeatable

Always empirical and consistent –

but not necessarily unbreakable.

A "scientific principle" is usually more specific

than a law, but the distinction is not always clear.

Observation

Note:

•It is incorrect to say that something

occurred because of a particular law.

•It would be correct to say that an

observation is consistent with a

particular law.

Observation

Atoms in NaCl (Table Salt)

Bohr model of an atom

Cooling a sphere over time

Models – conveying an ideaExplanation

theory: An explanation consistent with

observations but not necessarily tested (not very

different from an hypothesis or idea)

Theory: A unifying explanation"usually of a

complex natural system or phenomenon"that is

widely accepted on the basis of extensive testing.

Probably as close to "truth" as you can get in

science. Examples: Relativity; Evolution; Plate

Tectonics.

Theory and theory

Explanation

Reproducibility

Neither

Both

Accurate

Precise

Explanation

Prediction

Interpolation

Extrapolation

Bleebs = 2 blebs

Prediction

Bleebs = 2 x blebs

Prediction

Bleebs = blebs 5/4

Prediction

Cyclic behavior

Cyclic behavior allows for precise predictions

(extrapolations)

Ideas (even sound ones) are ideally always open

to scrutiny and evaluation.

Modern procedure:

•Develop idea

•Get someone to pay for it

•Test idea thoroughly

•Present idea to others

•Submit idea and results of test in written form

•Receive critical review from a small group of peers

•Respond to criticism

•Idea and results are evaluated by scientific community

Research

Present

Write

Review

Publish Popular Press

Non science

That which is untestable, and varies

between individuals

•Aesthetics

•Values

•Beliefs

•Extranatural

Examples: Art, spirituality and religion,

philosophy, love, taste, and fashion.

Non science is not inferior to science – they

are different facets of the human experience

(i.e. it is not science vs. religion)

Jacob Jordaens Pablo Picasso

Three Musicians

Non science

You are an insignificant mass in the universe bent on

your own survival and the replication and survival of

your genome.

Without nonscience…

© M. Crawford Samuelson

1026 m

1055 g

101m

104 g

The known universe

Psuedoscience

Claims to be validated by the scientific method,

but is not.

•Good – makes scientist examine weaknesses

•Not so good – never overcomes its criticisms

Pseudoscience is inferior to science – (i.e. it is

science vs. psuedoscience)

Examples: Advertising, astrology, “creation

science,” intelligent design, perpetual motion

machines, etc…

For some things, a scientific understanding is beneficial

to an consistent understanding that may be more

universally applied.

Earthquakes, Weather, Medicine

Nonscience

• Attribute to the supernatural

Psuedoscience

1. Establish theory

2. Combine anecdotal evidence to make your point

3. Disregard contradictory data

Science

1. Take measurements of current conditions

2. Link observations with Theory

3. Build predictions

4. Overcome or acquiesce to criticisms

Galileo GalileiPope Urban VIII

Maffeo Barberini

Science vs. Psuedoscience

Heresy vs. Religion

Tactlessness vs. Spite

Galileo’s observations confirm the

Copernican hypothesis - the Earth and the

other planets orbit around the sunDialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the

World (1632)

Copernican hypothesis contradicted an

interpretation and tradition that planetary

bodies revolve around Earth.

Ptolemeic hypothesis of planet motions

•Copernican hypothesis dismissed because of

predisposition of the church (psuedoscience)

•Galileo was determined to be a heretic by the

inquisition (religion)

•Galileo’s presentation of the hypothesis was

personally insulting to the Pope (spite)

m = mass

V = volume

t = time

w = weight

# = density

$ = "the change in"

Density is an example of a

property that is a ratio of

fundamental properties

# = m/V

To be specific, this is called the

mass density; occasionally we'll

use weight density

D = w/V

What other properties can you

think of that are ratios of

fundamental properties?

Symbols(scientific shorthand)

MagnitudeSignificant digits – how good is your ruler?

Actual: 2.522347 units

Measured: 2.5 units or

2.52 ± 0.02 units

Acknowledging the limitations of

our observations

Significant digits – the degree

of precision (0.01 not 0.001)

Error – the range of

observational accuracy

(between 2.50 and 2.54)

Scientific notation – a shorthand for numbers

that emphasizes significant digits.

106 means 1,000,000

1.6 x 106 means 1.6 times 1,000,000

(=1,600,000)

(you might see this written 1.6E6)

• 3124 3.124 x 103 3.124 E 3

• 0.0015 1.5 x 10-3 1.5 E –3

examples:

solar system mass: ~1.995 x 1030 kg

proton mass: ~1.67 x 10-27 kg

What’s an Earth Material?

Natural matter occurring at energy

conditions relevant to the Earth.

There are many, but time is short, so this class will

focus on common and important* earth materials.

And…this is a geology class, so we’ll largely stick to the

surface of the Earth and realms below.*As non-scientifically deemed by Dr. Price

Matter: has mass and volume

Energy: can be traded for work

Work being a force times distance

Force being that which acts on an object

(matter) to change its velocity

Matter at energy conditions relevant to

the Earth

Five states of matter (contigent on energy)

1. Bose-Einstein Condensates - near 0 K (-273oC)

2. Solid

3. Liquid

4. Gas

5. Plasma - high temperature

Familiar H2O

0 10020

Temperature oC

200

300

What’s so important about earth

materials?

How about survival:

1. Food and water

2. Clothing

3. Shelter

If you can’t grow it, you have to mine it.

Water

Food - largely plants and animals, which

consume water and soils.

Clothing - natural fabrics from plants or

animals or synthetic fabrics from petroleum.

Shelter - stones, bricks of fired clay, trees, and

metals.

Earth materials are the rawest of materials -

everything mankind has ever made has initially

involved earth materials.

Grand plan for this semester

Lecture

1. Construction of minerals from atoms

2. Systematic mineralogy with deference to

rocks and ores

3. Applied earth materials

Lab

1. Diagnostic properties of minerals

2. Physical and chemical investigation of

earth materials

3. Mineral aggregates