Answered by SarahR Monday Dec 12th 2011

This is a rather tricky question. A mineral is required to have these 5 characteristics:

1. It is naturally occurring

2. It is a solid

3. It is an inorganic compound

4. It has a fixed chemical formula

5. It has an orderly crystalline structure

If we compare the 4 listed substances to the 5 qualifications above this is what we find:

A. Sugar is not a mineral because it comes from a plant which makes it organic.

B. Jello is not a mineral for several reasons, but first and foremost it is not naturally occurring.

C. Coal is typically thought of as a mineral, but is formed from organic matter. Coal is not a mineral because it cannot be expressed as a chemical formula. Coal can be defined as a rock, which can be made from organic matter.

D. Frost is a mineral. Water cannot be considered a mineral because it is not a solid. However, water in its solid forms of ice, frost, or snow meets all the 5 criteria listed above.