Mineral Properties
Mineral Characteristics
True or False
Vocab
Critical Thinking
100
What property is the least reliable for mineral identification?
What is Color.
100
What does it mean if a mineral is "inorganic"?
It derived from nonliving material.
100
A mineral is made of rocks.
What is FALSE. Minerals are made naturally on Earth. Rocks are made up of minerals.
100
A naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a specific chemical composition and a define crystalline structure.
What is a mineral?
100
List two reasons why petroleum is not a mineral.
It is a liquid and it was formed from living things (organic).
200
Is the color of the mineral in it's original form always the same as the color of it's powdered form when you test it's streak?
No, the streak can be a different color on the tile from it's original color. Example: Hemtatite
200
Ice is a mineral but water is not. Why is water not a mineral?
Liquid. Needs to be a solid (one of the 5 characteristics of a mineral).
200
An atom is made up of at least more than one molecule
What is FALSE. Molecules are made up of more than one atom.
200
The way a mineral reflects light from its surface.
What is luster?
200
If a person was planning to test Feldspar, what would the following things determine: glass plate, porcelain plate, and a hammer?
glass plate= hardness
porcelain plate= streak
hammer= cleavage/fracture
300
Name two different descriptions of a non-metallic luster.
glassy, earthy & dull.
300
The two ways a crystal can form
What is the cooling of magma and what is evaporation of a mineral solution.
300
Quartz can scratch Diamond.
What is FALSE. Diamond is the toughest mineral. Only diamond can scratch diamond.
300
The ratio of the mass of a substance to the mass of an equal volume of water at 4 degrees Celsius.
What is specific gravity?
300
If you know the density and the volume of a mineral, how do you calculate the mass?
Multiply the density times the volume.
400
Using the image:
Volume on the left is 20.0 mL & on the right is 22.8 mL. What is the volume of the object?
What is 2.8 mL
400
Is coal a mineral?
No because it is organic. It is made from the remains of vegetation.
400
The two samples of the mineral pyrite have different densities.
What is FALSE.
Minerals of the same type have the same density no matter what the size.
400
Minerals that contain oxygen and silicon among other elements.
What are silicates?
400
What are the two most abundant elements in Earth's crust?
Silicon and Oxygen
500
Using Moh's Scale of Hardness:
Which minerals can scratch window glass?
What is Quartz, Topaz, Corundum, and diamond.
500
Even though graphite (pencil lead) and diamond come from the same atom, Carbon, their physical characteristics are completely different. Why is this the case?
Their atoms are arranged in different crystal structures.
500
The most likely way for a crystal to form is by boiling.
What is FALSE.
Evaporation results in crystal formation in a solution and cooling for crystal formation in magma/lava.
500
A geometric solid having four sides that are equilateral triangles, resembling a pyramid.
What is a tetrahedron?
500
What determines the whether a mineral will exhibit cleavage or fracture?
The minerals chemical composition and arrangement.