What is the substance that contains only one type of atom?
An element
100
Why is color not a reliable clue to identify a mineral?
Some minerals can occur in different color?
100
What is a streak?
the color of the powder left behind when the mineral is scraped across a surface
100
What are gemstones and what are they like when they are found?
Gemstones: beautiful minerals used in jewelry
They are rough and irregularly shaped
100
How are gemstones shaped?
gem cutter grinds it into the desired shaped and polishes it
200
Why is mineral a solid?
It has definite volume and rigid shape.
200
What are three different ways you can identify a mineral?
Color and streak,luster, cleavage, fracture
200
What are the two types of luster?
metallic and nonmetallic
200
Why do minerals form from magma?
Contains all types of atoms that form minerals
200
Why does a piece of gold weigh much more than a piece of pyrite that is the same size?
gold is more dense
300
It is a solid in which the atoms are arranged in an orderly, repeating three-dimensional pattern.
What is a crystal?
300
What are two ways minerals are used in industry?
metals for cars and airplanes
quartz and feldspar for glass
fluorite and calcite for toothpaste
silver compounds for photographic film
mica and talc for paint
300
What is required for rocks to be considered ores?
rocks must be rich in minerals that people want
400
Which mineral group do most rock-forming rocks belong to?
silicates
400
What are the two ways minerals break and why?
Fracture: break into irregular pieces (the bonds that join the atoms are fairly equal in strength)
Cleavage: breaks along flat surfaces ( the bonds are weaker )
400
What do silicates contain?
oxygen and silicon
400
What are the five ways minerals are formed
water evaporates, hot water cools, molten rocks cools, heat and pressure causes change, organisms produce minerals
500
What are the four characteristics of minerals?
forms in nature, is a solid, has definite chemical makeup, has a crystal structure
500
What are the three factors that causes a mineral to change color?
foreign elements, contact with different environment, defects in the crystal structure