Maureen Maroon, age 12, of Peoria, Ill., for her question;

Is salt a mineral?

All the substances around us are chemicals, made from the basic chemical elements of matter. Some, but not all of these chemicals can be called minerals. Leaves and skin, bones and wood are not minerals. They are products of the living processes of the plant and animal world. Coal and petroleum are not minerals either, for they are the fossils of materials produced by past living things.

Minerals include all the other chemicals in the world. Some are chemical elements made from atoms, such as gold or oxygen, sodium or chlorine. Some are compounds made of m0lecuies of assorted atoms. Salt is a mineral compound of sodium and chlorine; water is a mineral made of hydrogen and oxygen. Most of the gases, liquids and solids in the world may be called minerals.