Name:_________________________________________________________
Date: 9/16-17 Core: 1 2 3 4
Directions: go to BB Announcements, or straight to the website http://higheredbcs.wiley.com/legacy/college/
strahler/0471417416/interactivities/flash/mineralogy/mineralogy.htm, to complete the following lab.
The Virtual Rock Lab
*Introduction to Rocks and Minerals click this section to ID the various properties you will be researching
about rocks and minerals. Put this information you find in the chart below.
Color/Streak
Hematite
Pyrite
Galena
Olivine
Luster
Talc
Quartz
Pyrite
Crystals
Quartz
Pyrite
Olivine
Cleavage
Muscovite
Galena
Calcite
Hardness
Fracture
Quartz
Hematite
Specific Gravity
Quartz 2.65
Galena 7.4-7.6
Pyrite 4.9-5.2
Quartz
Talc
Feldspar
Hematite
Calcite
Question 1: What is the difference between a rock and a mineral?
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*Virtual Igneous Rock Drawer click each picture to gather information about that sample for the chart below.
Color
Grain Size & Texture
Rock Type
Mineral
Question 2: Based on what you know, if you found a lava rock near a volcano, would you classify it as an intrusive or an
extrusive rock and why?
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*Virtual Sedimentary Rock Drawer click each picture to gather info. about that sample for the chart below.
Color
Grain Size & Texture
Rock Type
Mineral
Question 3: Use the rock cycle to explain how pieces of granite and slate could be found in the same piece of
conglomerate rock.
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*Virtual Metamorphic Rock Drawer click each picture to gather info. about that sample for the chart below.
Color
Grain Size & Texture
Rock Type
Mineral
Question 4: Explain how the formation of metamorphic rock is different from igneous or sedimentary rock?
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*Virtual Minerals Drawer (refer back to question 1 to add any notes about comparing rocks and minerals from
the intro. paragraph) Complete the chart below by clicking each mineral picture and following the directions.
Color & Streak
Luster
Cleavage &
Fracture
Crystal System
Hardness &
Specific Gravity
Unidentified
Mineral
Question 5: Explain why you should use more than one physical property to identify an unknown mineral?
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Minerals
some properties are
Hardness
which
means
Cleavage and
Fracture
Luster
which
means
which
means
Color of a
mineral in
powdered
form
which
means
The Virtual Rock Lab
Answers
Color/Streak
Hematite
Red
Pyrite
Greenish
black
Galena
Dark grey
Olivine
Colorless
Quartz
Pyrite
Olivine
Luster
Pearly
Vitreous
Talc
Quartz
Pyrite
Crystals
Hexagonal
Cubic
Orthorhombic
Muscovite
Galena
Metallic
Quartz
Talc
Feldspar
Hematite
Calcite
*Introduction to Rocks and Minerals
Cleavage
Perfect
Cubic
Calcite
Quartz
Hematite
Fracture
Conchoidal
Uneven
Rhombohedral
Hardness
Steel file
Fingernail
Penknife
Glass
Copper coin
Specific Gravity
Quartz 2.65
Silica
Galena 7.4-7.6
Lead
Pyrite 4.9-5.2
Iron
Question 1: What is the difference between a rock and a mineral?
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a definite chemical composition and a specific crystal structure. Rock is made up of one or
more minerals.
*Virtual Igneous Rock Drawer
Color
Black, white & grey
Dark grey
Grey
Black
Grain Size & Texture
Coarse & granular
Fine-grained with no
minerals visible
Fine-grained and vesicular
No grains visible
Rock Type
Intrusive, felsic and acidic
Extrusive, mafic and basic
Granite
Basalt
Mineral
Extrusive and felsic
Extrusive and felsic
Pumice
Obsidian
Question 2: Based on what you know, if you found a lava rock near a volcano, would you classify it as an intrusive or an extrusive rock and why?
If the rock is found near a volcano and it is identified as a lava rock, then the rock would be an extrusive rock which is formed as lava cools on the
surface of Earth.
*Virtual Sedimentary Rock Drawer
Color
Red-brown
Yellow-white
Grain Size & Texture
Fine-grained and porous
Coarse-grained
Rock Type
Sedimentary, clastic
Sedimentary, clastic
Mineral
Sandstone
Limestone
Question 3: Use the rock cycle to explain how pieces of granite and slate could be found in the same piece of conglomerate rock.
If granite and slate were weathered and eroded, they could be deposited as sediments that form conglomerate.
*Virtual Metamorphic Rock Drawer
Color
Black, white & grey
Pale grey
Grey
Grain Size & Texture
Coarse-grained and foliated
Coarsely crystalline, sugary
& glassy
Fine-grained
Rock Type
High-grade metamorphosed
High-grade metamorphosed
Gneiss
Marble
Mineral
Low-grade metamorphosed
Slate
Question 4: Explain how the formation of metamorphic rock different from igneous or sedimentary rock?
Metamorphic rocks form under changing conditions of pressure and/or temperature. The temperatures involved are high enough for
metamorphism to proceed, but too low for melting to occur.
*Virtual Minerals Drawer
Color & Streak
Luster
Colorless
Brass--yellow
Colorless
Dark brown
Vitreous
Metallic
Vitreous
Vitreous
Cleavage &
Fracture
None
None
Rhombohedral
1, perfect
Crystal System
Red brown
Metallic
Uneven
Yellow-brown
Vitreous
Lead grey
Metallic
Brown
Vitreous
2, perfect at right
angles
Perfect in 3
directions at right
angles
1, perfect
White
Pearly
None
Hardness &
Specific Gravity
Hexagonal
Cubic
Hexagonal
Irregular mass of
flakes
Massive or
granular
Prismatic
7
6
3
3
Unidentified
Mineral
Quartz
Pyrite
Calcite
Biotite
5-6
Hematite
6
Feldspar
Cubic
2
Galena
Irregular mass of
flakes
Massive
2
Muscovite
1
Talc
Question 5: Explain why you should use more than one physical property to identify an unknown mineral?
You can rarely identify a mineral only by its color because different minerals are the same color. Streak is more reliable because the color of a
mineral may vary, but its streak does not vary. However, different minerals may be the same color, but they may have a different color streak.
Mohs Scale identifies the ability to resist being scratched and many minerals have the same scaled number. Many minerals also break the same
way. Given this information, you must use more than one type of physical property to identify a mineral.
Mineral
some properties
are
Hardnes
s
Luste
r
Streak
Cleavage
and Fracture
which
mean
which
mean
which
mean
which
mean
How
easily a
mineral is
scratched
The way
a mineral
reflects
light
Color of a
mineral in
powdere
d form
The way
a mineral
breaks