Minerals Flashcards
Atoms bond in two main ways, what are they?
ionic bonding and covalent bonding
what are isotopes?
same element, but different quantity of electrons, like C12 and C14, one is used for carbon dating
Minerals form when _______ bond together. There are about 4000 minerals. Most are a combination of _____ or more elements
elements
two
What is the definition of minerals?
naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline solids that have a definite chemical composition. Minerals have characteristic physical properties
Define what naturally occurring means
If the mineral is manufactured like glass or quarts it does not count, can’t be made by us
Define what inorganic means
Indicating that a mineral is not made from living or fossilized organic material.
Shells are usually considered organic
Define what crystalline solid means?
The structure of the mineral, stays the same structure when broken – like cubes or triangles
What is the difference between crystal and crystalline?
Crystal is a solid material with a natural geometrically regular form and symmetrically arranged flat faces. Crystals are molecules arranged in a pattern that is repetitive in 3-D. Crystalline refers to describing a material that is composed of a bunch of crystals.
What is the difference between mineral vs mineraloid?
Minerals are inorganic crystalline solids with a characteristic chemical composition. Mineraloids are mineral-like substances that do not demonstrate crystallinity
define definite chemical composition
The mineral is composed of its typical elements in the specific arrangment
Polished surface vs crystal facet
Polished surface – The rock has been cut and then a polish goes over the cut edge
Crystal facet – the rock is naturally smooth and clear
What are the two ways minerals form? explain them
Formed by geological processes like solidification of magma
This forms minerals, if it cools slowly then the crystals have a change to form and grow.
Obsidian is a volcanic glass, this one cooled quickly and it not a mineral. Often used for weapons
Granite – mineral grains compacted together – crystals are large because magma cooled under the ground in a magma chamber
Using the colling of magma we can hypothesis where the rock came from
Precipitation out of water supersaturated with dissolved ions
Is there is water around a magma chamber the water picks up minerals and ions, but when the water cools the minerals will precipitate out.
What are the characteristic physical properties of minerals?
Hardness, luster
diaphaneity, color, streak, feel, taste, magnetic properties, specific gravity, chemical reactions, fluorescence, scent, iridescence, opalescence, crystal form, cleavage, fracture, crystal habit, acicular, botryoidal, euhedral crystals, prismatic
__________ is the relative measure of a minerals resistance to scratching
hardness
______ scale of hardness is used to determine hardness. ______ numbers on the scale can scratch ______ numbers.
Mohs
higher
lower
_____ is how light reflects off the surface of a mineral
Luster
_______ is a minerals ability to transmit light
Diaphaneity
What are the 3 types of diapheniety
transparent: transmit light freely
Translucent: transmit light but it is hard to see through the mineral
Opaque: do not transmit light and appear solid
__________ can be misleading because there are several minerals that share the same ________, also impurities and transition metals contained in the mineral can change minerals _________.
same word for all 3
colour
If colour is changed from tarnish(oxygen and water changing the surface of the mineral), which test should we use?
texture or streak test
_________ is the mark mineral makes on a porcelain tile when u scratch the mineral on the tile.
Streak
_______ is fake gold, when you streak it, it is _______
pyrite
black
Ways a mineral can feel like
greasy or soapy
Way a mineral can taste like
salty
______ _________ is refering to the weight of the mineral
Specific gravity
specific gravity is relative to the weight of an equal volume of ________
water
what is the equation for specific gravity?
Specific gravity = (weight of mineral) / (weight of equal volume of water)
Define heft
the weight of the rock of your hand
When adding hydrochloric acid to calcite the rock will fizz. Which characteristic physical property is this referring to?
Chemical reactions
__________ happens when the mineral is irritated with ultra violet light
fluorescence
What is this characteristic physical property:
Changes in composition,
interfere with light to
produce different colours at different angles
schiller effect e.g., the
shiny shimmer of
labradorite
Iridescence
_________ is the scattering of light
Opalescence
________ ______ changes based on atomic structure
Crystal form
_________ is The tendency of a mineral to break along the preferred plane, because the chemical bonds are weaker along that plane
cleavage
Minerals can break up to ___ cleavage planes
5
graphite, between the planes it is really weakly bonded – that is a _______ cleavage plane
strong
Why is diamond hard but fragile?
It has tons of cleavage planes
If i can see cleavage planes in a rock then it must be a cleavage rock?
False. Quartz looks to have cleavage planes, but it is not cleavage.
What are some features that tell us a mineral is cleavage?
planar/flat surface, surface is shiny, repeated at different levels of the mineral
Fracture:
When struck it breaks ________. Quarts exhibits fracture, not _________
unevenly
cleavage
______ _______ is the normal
appearance, or general shape, of
individual minerals or mineral
aggregates that form in nature
Crystal habit
Define Acicular
Occurs as needle like crystals
Define Botryoidal
grape like rounded forms (malachite)
Define euhedral crystals
Occurs as well formed crystals showing good external form
define prismatic
Crystals shaped like slender prisms (tourmaline)
Minerals can be grouped and classified by they’re chemistry based on whether they are a _______ or a ___________.
Silicate
non-silicate
What are the top 8 elements found in the continental crust of the earth?
Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Iron, Calcium, Sodium, Potassium, and Magnesium
All silicate minerals contain the elements _______ and _________
oxygen and silicon
How are silicates bound together?
Bound together in a unit structure known as a silica tetrahedral. There are four atoms of oxygen that surround one atom of silicon.
What is the charges on the Si atom and the O atom of a silica tetrahedral
Si+4 O-2
What is the molecular formula for a silica tetrahedral?
(SiO4)-4
Silica tetrahedral is positively or negatively charged?
negatively
the silica tetrahedral can only be linked or bonded at the _______ with similar SiO4 units, this is ________ bonding. Si)4 can also bond with another _________ charged element, this is ______ bonding.
corners
covalent
positively
ionic
There are 6 common silicate minerals. What are they?
Olivine, Pyroxene, Amphibole, Biotite and muscovite mica, feldspar, and quartz
What is the name for the way olivine arranges its structure?
isolated tetrahedral
What is the name for the way pyroxene arranges its structure?
Single chain
What is the name for the way amphibole arranges its structure?
Double chain
What is the name for the way mica arranges its structure?
Two-dimensional sheet
What is the name for the way feldspar and quartz arranges its structure?
three-dimensional framework
There are 7 examples of non-silicate mineral groups, what are they?
Oxides, sulfides, sulfates, native metals, halides, carbonates, phosphates
There are 5 examples of non-silicate minerals, what are they?
Hematite, galena, gypsum, pure minerals composed of one element, halite, calcite, apatite
Table salt contains
Halite
A bag of plaster contains
Gypsum
water pipe contains
Copper
kitchen foil contains
aluminum
cutlery contains
metal like magnetite
Plates contain
clays, silicate
can and tins contain
aluminum
in 1954 the US was fully reliant on foreign sources for ___ mineral commodities. In 2020 this number increased to ___.
8
17
The US experienced a ____% increase over about the past 60 years
in reliance on external sources of commodities
250%
2020 data the U.S.
imports __ to __
commodities from Canada
13 to 18
What is the equation that helps define the factors of human impacts on the geological environment?
I = PAT
What does each variable stand for in the I = PAT equation?
I - impact
P - population
A - consumption per person
T - Impact per unit of consumption
small consumption X large population = _____ impact
large consumption X small population = ______ impact
large
large
The population has been increasing _______. However, lately the world population has been increasing at a ______ rate than the past.
exponentially
slower
Define carrying capacity
the number of humans that the earth can support with a
reasonable quality of life, with present technology
(includes space, food, water, energy).
