LogFAQs > #943106105

Mead posted...

I guess I thought it was a stone like compound like I dunno talc or something

I'd probably just classify it as a mineral, though that's complicated depending on what exactly you're talking about when you say calcium, and what you mean by the word mineral.

Calcium falls into one of those weird categories, where the scientific classification doesn't really jibe with the (original) layman's word. Like how scientists will call things like tomatoes, corn, and pumpkins fruits (because of their biological structure), while most people will tell those scientists to fuck right off (because their use in cooking generally classifies them as vegetables).

Calcium's a metal based on the scientific definition that's only existed for about 250 years, but it's not really a metal at all based on what everyone else on Earth have considered to be metals for the last 10,000 years. So it kind of feels like scientists should have come up with new terminology rather than misusing the terminology that already existed, and they have only themselves to blame for any ensuing confusion.
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