Minerals 1
The most useful clue to use when identifying a mineral
What is hardness?
This characteristic of a mineral means that minerals are formed from materials that were not a part of living things
What is an inorganic process?
A substance composed of a single kind of atom
What is an element?
This is used to rank the hardness of minerals using a ranking system from 1 to 10
What is the Mohs hardness scale?
A mineral that splits easily along flat surfaces has this property, which is uncommon for minerals
(ex. Mica)
What is cleavage?
1) Through organic processes
2) By crystallizing from materials dissolved in solutions
or
3) By crystallizing as magma or lava cool
What are the 3 ways minerals form?
Ocean animals such as clams and corals produce shells and skeletons made out of the mineral calcite. This is an example of a mineral being produced through an _________ process.
What is “organic”?
Dull, waxy, greasy and earthy are words that describe minerals with this type of luster
What is nonmetallic?
A narrow channel or slab of mineral that is different from the surrounding rock
What is a vein?
The color of a minerals powder is called this
What is streak?
This characteristic of a mineral means that a mineral always contains certain elements in definite proportions. (Ex. Quartz always contains 1 atom of silicon for every 2 atoms of oxygen.)
What is definite chemical composition?
Almost all minerals are __________. For example, the mineral cinnabar is composed of the elements sulfur and mercury.
What is “compounds”?
Hardness of a mineral can be determined by this
What is a scratch test?
This term describes how a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way (Ex. Quartz produces curved shell-like surfaces when it is broken)
What is fracture?
A mixture in which one substance is dissolved in another
What is a solution?
Salt crystals found by the ocean were formed by _____.
What is ”evaporation”?
On Mohs scale of hardness, this hard mineral is ranked 7
What is quartz?
Quartz, tourmaline, feldspar and mica are examples of minerals formed as _________ cools deep below the Earth’s surface.
What is ”magma”?
The color of a mineral and the color of it’s streak are often____________.
What is different?
A solid that is formed from a repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles; having flat sides (faces) that meet at sharp edges and corners
What is a crystal?
Almost all pure, solid elements are _______.
What is “metals”?
Metallic, silky, waxy, greasy, earthy, pearly and glassy are adjectives that can describe this characteristic of a mineral
What is Luster?
Geologists identify minerals by examining their _____; such as, streak, crystal structure, hardness, density, cleavage and fracture.
What is “physical properties”?
This occurs when elements and compounds that are dissolved in water leave a solution
What is crystallization?
Quartz, pure silver and gold can all crystallize from this
What is a hot water solution?
On Mohs scale of hardness, this soft mineral is ranked 1
What is talc?
Minerals that contain oxygen and silicon
What are silicates?
To be classified as a mineral, the substance must satisfy this number of requirements
What is 5?
This mineral forms naturally as molten material (magma) cools and hardens beneath the Earth’s surface
What is quartz?
The color of a mineral’s _____ is always the same even though the color of the mineral itself may vary.
What is streak?
1) Use a balance to determine the mass of the mineral sample 2) put the mineral sample and water to see how much water it displaces to get it’s volume (the volume of the displaced water equals the volume of the sample) 3) Divide the mass of the mineral sample by it’s volume to get the mineral’s _________
What is density?
Water seeping in the cracks of a rock can result in the formation of this
What is a geode?
Some minerals, like halite, calcite and gypsum are formed by this
What is evaporation?
Minerals form as hot magma cools in side the crust, or as lava cools on the surface. When these liquids cool to a solid state, they form _____.
What is “crystals”?
The two terms that describe how a mineral breaks
What are cleavage and fracture?
Olivine and leucine are silicate minerals that form as ________ cools. Their crystals are much smaller because it cools much more quickly than magma.
What is “lava”?
The characteristics of minerals are that 1) it is naturally occurring, 2) it is a solid, 3) it has a crystal structure, 4) it has a definite chemical composition and 5) ?
What is “forms by inorganic processes”?
When two or more elements are combined so that the elements no longer have distinct properties it becomes this
What is a compound?
Describes how light is reflected from a mineral’s surface
What is luster?
The crystal structure of this mineral is is cubic
What is Haltite?
The process by which atoms are arranged to form a material that has a crystal structure
What is crystallization?
This mineral, formed through evaporation, can sometimes form is the shape of a rose
What is gypsum?
The outward appearance of the internal arrangement of atoms in a mineral
What is the crystal shape?
Name the mineral: Metallic luster, gray/black, breaks by cleavage in 3 directions, hardness is about 2, blackish gray streak
What is galena?
A deposit of valuable minerals contained in rocks
What is an ore?