Download Scientific Processes Test Study Guide

Unit 4: Minerals of the Earth Test Study Guide
Answers
1. What are the four characteristics of a mineral? Natural, Crystal,
Inorganic, and Solid.
2. T
F
A mineral can have more than one type of rock in it.
3. Minerals that are composed of only one element are called Native
Elements.
4. T
F
A rock can have more than one type of mineral in it.
5. Explain why bread is not considered a mineral. It is made from organic
material.
6. Explain why your fingernails are not a mineral. They originate from
organic material.
7. What is Mohs' hardness scale? A scale from 1 to 10 that measures the
hardness of rocks.
8. What is a mineral's streak? The powder left behind when a mineral
scratches against a streak plate.
9. What physical properties can be expressed in numbers and shows how
that substance withstands being scratched? Hardness
10. The color of the powder that a mineral leaves on a piece of white,
unglazed porcelain is called Streak.
11. Quartz breaks unevenly and this is called fracture.
12. A diamond breaks evenly and this is called cleavage.
13. On Mohs' hardness scale, talc is the softest mineral and diamond is the
hardest.
14. Diamond is made of carbon and talc is made of crushed seashells.
15. Of the 5 mineral properties, color is the least accurate for figuring out a
mineral’s identity.
16. The most common classification of minerals is based on chemical
composition.
17. Mineral crystals that are valued for their beauty rather than for
usefulness are attractive and rare and are hard enough to be cut and
polished are called gems.
18. The two most common elements in the Earth's crust are oxygen &
silicon and that is why geologists label all minerals as either silicates or
nonsilicates.
19. Minerals that contain combinations of silicon and oxygen in their
chemical structure are called silicates and minerals without silicon and
oxygen are called nonsilicates.
20. Minerals are classified based on chemical composition into two
groups. What are these two groups? silicates and nonsilicates.
21. Name 3 Native Elements (minerals containing only 1 element). Gold,
Silver, and Copper.
22. We use carbonate minerals in cement, building stones, and fireworks.
23. Carbonates are minerals that contain both carbon and oxygen.
24. The purest color of quartz is clear because it has the fewest impurities
inside of it.
25. Metallic and nonmetallic describes a mineral's luster. This
characteristic is how light reflects off the mineral.
26. Are mineral ores renewable resources or nonrenewable resources?
Nonrenewable.
27. The structure of a crystal is made by a repeating pattern of atoms. The
largest crystals are formed as superheated rocks slowly cool. Where are
these large crystals formed? Underground near magma.
28. Cleavage is the tendency of minerals to break along flat surfaces and
fracture is the tendency to break in an uneven manner.
29. Gold and silver are native elements because they are each composed of
a single type of atom.
30. Minerals that people dig from the ground (mine) and then use to make
things for profit are called ores.
31. What is an element? A substance that has atoms of only one thing.
32. A compound is a rock or mineral that has more than one element
chemically bonded together.
33. T F An element cannot be broken into two substances with
different atomic structures.
34. What is an atom? The smallest part of an element.
35. Silicon is the second most common element on Earth.
36. Write the name of the element that each of these abbreviations
represents. C – Carbon, O – Oxygen, N – Nitrogen, S – Sulfur, Cl –
Chlorine, and Na – Sodium.
37. This is considered a special property that applies to only a few
minerals? Magnetism.
38. Feldspar is a mineral that makes up about half of the Earth's crust.
39. When salt water evaporates, minerals such as gypsum and halite are
left behind.
Vocabulary
mineral
element
crystal
streak
luster
cleavage
fracture
non renewable
ore
Moh’s Scale
carbonate
silicate