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How to Calculate the Surface Area of a Mineral

Generally speaking, minerals such as quartz, calcite, and hematite do not have a physical structure that constitutes a perfect geometric shape. They tend to be rocky formations with many jagged nooks and crannies. As such, accurately measuring their surface area using conventional methods is near impossible. However, using more unconventional means, it is possible to determine the surface area of a mineral by measuring the quantity of a viscous fluid that it displaces.

Graduated cylinder
Water soluble paint
Long-nosed metal tweezers

Instructions

- 1
  Fill a graduated cylinder large enough to hold the mineral with a quantity of the water soluble paint that exceeds the height of the mineral.
- 2
  Take a measurement of the quantity of the paint in the graduated cylinder. Using the long-nosed tweezers, place the mineral into the cylinder. Be careful not to dip the tweezers into the paint, if this can be avoided.
- 3
  Allow the mineral to sit in the paint for several minutes in order to establish a complete coating.
- 4
  Use the tweezers to remove the mineral from the graduated cylinder.
- 5
  Measure the amount of the paint in the cylinder once the mineral has been removed. Subtract it from the amount measured in Step 2. The difference will be the volume of paint displaced in milliliters, as well as the surface area of the mineral in cubic centimeters, since 1mL = 1cc.
- 6
  Wash the graduated cylinder and your mineral sample thoroughly with soap and hot water before the paint has a chance to dry.

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