Mineral and IG Rock Test- Minerals Flashcards
What are the five charcteristics of all minerals?
- Inorganic
- Formed in nature
- Soild, not a liquid or gass
- Particular crystallin pattern
- Certain chemical composition
What does it mean to be inorganic?
- Not living, was never alive
- Not made directly by plants or animlas
What does it mean to be formed in nature?
- Not man made
What does it mean to have a particular crystalline pattern?
When the atoms have arranged themslevs into geometric shapes.
Ex: Pyrite-cubic
What does it mean to have a certain shemical composition?
The mineral has a chemicla formula
ex: Pyrite: FeS2
What are the seven ways you can identify a mineral?
- Color-very ubreliable
- Luster
- Clevage or frcture
- Sepcific gravity
- Hardness
- Streak
- Special properties
Luster
The way light reflects off a mineral, metalic/ nonmetalic
* Metalic-looks like a metal, opaque
Ex: Iron, gold, silver
* Nonmetalic- does NOT look like a metal, translusent
Ex: Glass
Clevage and fracture
- Cleveage- brakes along flat serfaces
Ex: Halite & talc - Fracuture- brakes along uneven or jaged surfaces
Ex: bone, glass, wood
Specific gravity?
Is the mineral heavy or light for its size?
Hardness
The ability to resist scraching
Moth’s Scale
1-Talc
2.5-Fingernail
3.5- Copper (peny)
4.5- Steel nail
5.5-Glass
6.5- Steel file
10- Dimond
Streak
The color of a metalic minerals powder left behind on a porcilen tile
Speical properties
When a mineral ahs a unique property that eialsy indentifes the mineral
Ex: Magnetic. reacts to acid, fluoresent, smell, taste
What mineral is this discribing?
Gressy, very soft
Talc
What mineral is this discribing?
High specific gravity, metalic, shiny, cubic cleavege
Galena
What mineral is this discribing?
Multi colored/ floreseent
Fluorite
