Question

minerals have a crystalline structure that is derived from their??

Answer 1

atoms arrangement

minerals are solid substances with a crystalline structure. To be crystalline means that the atoms within the solid are arranged in a geometric pattern that is unique to that mineral. Thus, altering that structure in any way results in the creation of a new mineral. Additionally, substances formed from the other phases of matter, liquid and gas, are not minerals. For that reason, water ice from a glacier is a mineral, while liquid water, steam, and ice cubes are not.

http://www.geosci.ipfw.edu/PhysSys/Unit_3/minerals.html