How Minerals are Formed?
A naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and an orderly arrangement of atoms or ions.
What is a mineral?
A ________________ is a member of the mineral group that has silicon and oxygen in its crystal structure.
What is a silicate?
Scientists who study the distribution of minerals, mineral properties, and their uses.
What are mineralogists?
A solid in which the atoms form a repeating pattern.
What is a crystal?
If a mineral breaks and forms uneven surfaces, it has cleavage.
False. What is Fracture?
Of the 4,000 naturally occurring minerals on Earth, only about 30 of these are common. Ten of these are called __________________.
What are the rock-forming minerals?
This process occurs when particles dissolved in a liquid or a melt solidify and form crystals.
What is crystallization?
Variations in _____________ reflect the presence of different types of chemical impurities in a mineral.
What is color?
The angles between the atoms in the mineral determine the ______________.
What is the shape?
The density of an object is equal to its mass divided by its volume.
True.
Minerals have a definite chemical composition. This means that they are made up of two or more _________________.
What are elements?
This pure mineral is formed of only oxygen and silicon.
The way a mineral reflects or absorbs light is called _____________.
What is luster?
Name a mineral that might form from hot fluids deep within the Earth.
What is gold?
Softness is the resistance of a mineral to being scratched.
False. What is hardness?
Minerals for predictable __________________ patterns.
What are crystal?
This mineral is the most common silicate mineral on Earth.
What is Feldspar?
The color of a mineral in powered form.
What is streak?
What mineral may form when sea water evaporates?
What is halite?
Mineralogists often use ordinary objects to compare the hardness of unknown minerals (glass, a penny, a nail...)
True.
Name the two main families of rock forming minerals.
What are silicates and non-silicates?
These two properties help geologists infer the type of environment where the minerals were formed.
What are physical and chemical properties?
If a mineral breaks with smooth, flat surfaces, it has ________________.
Certain marine organisms can remove salts from sea water and produce these solids.
What are shells and coral reefs?
The NOHS Hardness scale ranges from 1 - 10 and compares the hardness of different minerals.
False. What is the MOHS Hardness scale?