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Contents of 2.4 How do elements combine to form minerals?

2.4 How do elements <br />combine to form minerals?

• Minerals are elements combined by ionic, covalent, metallic, and van der Waals bonds.
• Ionic bonds are weaker than covalent bonds.
• The lopsided geometry of water molecules gives it polarity, which allows it to pull apart weakly bonded minerals.
• Many minerals have multiple bond types, or have bonds that exhibit the traits of different bonds.
• The structure of minerals is determined not only by bond types, but also by how the atoms are positioned relative to one another.
• Different arrangements of the same atoms represent different minerals.