Key Concepts for Minerals Test
Name_________________________________
SE 5b Investigate the composition of rocks in terms of minerals
Section: What Is a Mineral?
Circle the letter of the best answer for each question.
1. Which of the following is NOT true about a mineral?
a. It is a solid. b. It has a crystalline structure. c.
It is not a living thing.
d.It is made in a lab.
2. What two groups are minerals divided into?
a. atoms and compounds b.crystals and solids
c.silicate minerals and nonsilicate minerals
d. hard minerals and soft minerals
3. Minerals that contain oxygen and silicon are called ______________________.
4. The mineral ______________________ breaks easily into sheets.
5.
BESIDES AIR AND WATER, WHAT CAN CHANGE THE COLOR OF A MINERAL?
a. streak b .impurities
c. location
d. fracture
6. Which of the following is NOT a type of luster?
a. subrmetallic b. nonmetallic c. metallic d. dry
7. What is the color of a mineral in powdered form called?
a. fracture b.liquid
c.gas
d. streak
8. What occurs when minerals break unevenly along curved or irregular surfaces?
a. streak b. fracture
c. luster
d. cleavage
______ 9. Which of the following definitions best describes a mineral?
A.a substance that cannot be separated or broken down into simpler substances by chemical means
B.a substance made up of atoms of two or more different elements joined by chemical bonds
C.a naturally formed, inorganic solid that has a definite crystalline structure
D.a solid whose atoms, ions, or molecules are arranged in a definite pattern
___ 10.Which of the following substances is a mineral?
A.coal, which forms from the remains of living things
B.fluorite, which is a crystalline solid with the chemical formula CaF2
C.obsidian, which is a volcanic glass and is not crystalline
D.brass, which is a metal that is made by humans
______ 11. Minerals that contain one or more elements combined with silicon and oxygen are called
A.sulfides.
B.silicates.
C.oxides.
D.halides.
______ 12. Which of the following minerals can be identified by taste?
A.magnetite
B.fluorite
C.calcite
D.halite
______ 13. Minerals such as gypsum and halite form
A.from hot-water solutions.
B.when a rock is altered by metamorphism.
C.when bodies of salt water evaporate.
D.from the cooling of magma that rises upward through the crust.
Use the table below to answer question 14.
Mohs Hardness Scale
Hardness
Mineral
1
Talc
2
Gypsum
3
Calcite
4
Fluorite
5
Apatite
6
Orthoclase
7
Quartz
8
Topaz
9
Corundum
10
Diamond
______ 14. On the Mohs hardness scale, which of the following minerals is harder than topaz?
A.apatite
B.talc
C.corundum
D.quartz
______ 15. Why are gemstones valuable?
A.They can be used in concrete and to build buildings.
B.They are good conductors of heat and electricity.
C.They are beautiful and rare.
D.They taste good.