SNIFC
What does the S in SNIFC stand for? What does it mean?
Solid. It cannot be a liquid or a gas. It maintains its own shape.
What do we call the color of a mineral in powdered form?
Its streak.
What is the way a mineral reflects light called?
Luster
A piece of wood. Mineral or nah? Why?
Nah. Wood comes from trees which are living things.
What is mass?
The amount of matter in an object/substance.
What does the N in SNIFC stand for? What does it mean?
Natural. Naturally occuring/not man-made.
What is a mineral's resistance to being scratched?
Hardness
How would you describe a mineral that reflects light well?
Metallic
A fossil. Mineral or nah? Why?
Nah. Fossils come from living things.
What is volume?
The amount of space an object/substance takes up.
What does the I stand for in SNIFC? What does it mean?
Inorganic. Non-living and never living.
A mineral has this when it breaks off along smooth planes/edges.
Cleavage.
What are the two main ways minerals are formed?
-Magma/Lava
-Solutions
Liquid water. Mineral or nah? Why?
Nah. A mineral has to be solid. Ice would be a mineral, although liquid water is not.
What is density?
The comparison between the amount of mass and the amount of volume of an object/substance.
What does the F stand for in SNIFC? What does it mean?
Formula (chemical formula). It means every mineral is made of a set chemical formula (elements and compounds).
A mineral has this when it breaks off in uneven bits.
Fracture.
If a fingernail scratches an unidentified mineral, what is the hardness between?
The hardness is between a 1 and a 2.5.
Sulfur. Mineral or nah? Why?
Mineral. It contains all five characteristics of a mineral (SNIFC).
What is the formula for density?
Mass divided by Volume
M/V
What does the C in SNIFC stand for? What does it mean?
Crystalline structure. The atoms are arranged in repeating patterns.
What scale is a mineral's resistance to being scratched measured on?
Moh's hardness scale
When a mineral is forming/cooling inside the earth, are the crystals large or small? Why?
Large because it has more time to cool inside the earth, allowing larger crystals to form.
A pearl. Mineral or nah? Why?
Nah. A pearl is made of organic material (made by living things).
An unidentified object has a mass of 10 grams and a volume of 2 ml. What is the density of the object?
5 g/ml
mass/volume=10 g/2 ml=5 g/ml