Mineral Worksheet #1
Answers and Exam Review
Exam Tomorrow,
March 14th
m
j
The way a mineral reflects or “reacts” to light.
a. Native Element
A mineral’s resistance to being scratched.
b. Cubic
Magnetic
c. Hexagonal
4.
o
k
This crystal system has three axes that all intersect at oblique angles.
d. Effervesces
5.
l
The color of a mineral’s powder when rubbed across an unglazed porcelain plate.
e. Monoclinic
6.
g
When minerals don’t break along cleavage lines.
f. Crystalline Solid
7.
i
This crystal system has three axes of different length that intersect at 90 degree angles.
g. Fracture
8.
a
When a mineral exists as a single element.
h. Color
9.
b
This crystal system has 3 axes of equal length that intersect at 90 degree angles.
i. Orthorhombic
10
c
This crystal system has three horizontal axes that are the same length and intersect at
60 degree angles, and one longer vertical axis.
j. Hardness
This crystal system has three axes, two of which intersect at right angles and one that
intersects the other two a an oblique angle.
k. Triclinic
This is when a mineral reacts with a weak acid to produce bubbles.
l. Streak
13
d
p
This is the plane or planes in which a mineral tends to split.
m. Luster
14
n
Glows when a black light is shined on a mineral
n. Fluorescence
15
h
The most misleading property of a mineral, in terms of determining its identity
o. Magnetic
16
f
This is something that has its atoms arranged in a repeating pattern.
p. Cleavage
1.
2.
3.
11
12
e
17. What are four conditions that
define a mineral?
• naturally occurring
• abiotic
• repeating pattern of atoms
(crystal)
• definite chemical composition
18. What is 1 reason that color isn’t a
good method of identifying minerals?
• more than one mineral can have a
particular color
• a mineral can exist as more than
one color
• some minerals change color over
time
19. What are the two types of luster?
• metallic
• non-metallic
20. List as many of the acceptable adjectives for
luster as you can. Next to each adjective, write
a description and give one mineral that can be
used as an example of that type of luster.
• waxy
• like a candle
• rose quartz
• vitreous
• glassy
• crystal quartz
• dull
• well, dull
• red hematite
• earthy
• no luster
• limonite
• adamantine • most brilliant
• diamond
• pearly
• like a pearl
• muscovite
• silky
• like a silk shirt
• malachite
• greasy
• an oily sheen
• talc
• resinous
• syrupy-shiny
• sulfur
21. List as many of the acceptable adjectives for
fracture as you can. Next to each, write a
description and give one mineral that can be
used as an example of that type of fracture.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
conchoidal
even
fibrous
splintery
uneven
brittle
sectile
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
like sea-shell
smooth
stringy
needles
less smooth
crumbly
can be carved
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
rose quartz
kaolinite
gypsum
malachite
magnetite
limonite
sulfur
22. For properties of luster and fracture, we are
restricted in the words we can use. Explain
why do we use a reduced vocabulary?
• a reduced vocabulary increases
the objectivity and improves
accuracy.
23. There are a few minerals that you have
worked with over the past week that are
very distinctive and should be able to be
identified by sight only. Name one
mineral that you can (or should be able
to) identify simply by looking at it.
Explain what is so distinctive about this
mineral, that allows you (or should) to do
this.
24. There are two ways to describe
cleavage, describe what they are and
how they are used.
• quality of the cleavage (how easily it is
seen or detected)
• the planes (& angles) of the cleavage.
25. Name one mineral that has an
easy to see cleavage.
26. List three tests that you could
perform on a mineral to help
identify it.
- hardness (Moh’s hardness scale)
- streaking (to see the color)
- weak acid test (effervescence)
- black light (fluorescence)
27. Of all the tests that can be
performed on a mineral to help
identify it, which one is the most
useful? Why?
28. Write the defining mineral for each level
of the Moh’s Hardness Scale in the table
below.
Moh’s Hardness Number
Defining Mineral
1
2
Talc
Gypsum
Calcite
Fluorite
Apatite
Orthoclase Feldspar
Quartz
Topaz
Corundum
Diamond
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
29. List the tools that are used to determine
hardness. Write the Moh’s hardness
number next to each tool.
Tool
Moh’s Hardness Number
Fingernail
2.5
4.5
5.5
5-8
Steel Nail
Glass Plate
Streak Plate
30. Why does the hardness of some
minerals have such a large range?
- minerals naturally occurring and
can vary in hardness because of
natural variation
31. List six of the eight most common
elements in the earth’s crust?
- oxygen (O)
- silicon (Si)
- aluminum (Al)
- iron (Fe)
- calcium (Ca)
- sodium (Na)
- potassium (K)
- magnesium (Mg)
32. Define the word abiotic?
Natural, but not from or of any
biological or living organism.
33. What is one way that minerals
form?
- hot magma or lava cools
- water containing minerals evaporates
- sustained heat and pressure change one
mineral into another
34. Why do we study minerals?
- minerals are the starting point
for understanding ALL geologic
phenomena
35. You have studied minerals for
approximately two weeks. What
is a rock and how is it different
than a mineral?
Rocks are made of an aggregate
(gathering or mixture bound into one
object) of minerals.