Minerals

Question 1

What is a pure substance?

Answer 1

Materials made of a single element or a single type of compound composed of two or more elements in fixed proportions

Question 2

What is a mixture?

Answer 2

A substance made of two or more chemical substances that are not chemically bonded

Question 3

What is a chemical formula?

Answer 3

the written representation of the proportions of the elements in a pure substance e.g. H2O for water

Question 4

What is lattice structure?

Answer 4

A repeating 3D pattern of atoms bonded together within a crystal

Question 5

What is a physical property?

Answer 5

Characteristic behaviour or state of a substance

Question 6

What is a mineral?

Answer 6

Minerals are defined as crystalline solid substances that are naturally occurring, with a specific chemical composition and crystalline lattice structure

Question 7

What is cleavage?

Answer 7

Cleavage is when a mineral has the tendency to break along flat planar surfaces determined by the structure of its crystal lattice

Question 8

What is fracture?

Answer 8

Fracture is the property of a mineral breaking in a more or less random pattern with no smooth planar surfaces

Question 9

What is streak?

Answer 9

Streak refers to the colour of the mineral powder

Question 10

What is lustre?

Answer 10

Lustre refers to how a mineral reflects light

Question 11

What is hardness?

Answer 11

Hardness describes how resistant the mineral is to something using the MOH scale