Mineral Lesson

Minerals

What do minerals have in common?

1. Solid

Cannot be a liquid or gas

2. Naturally occuring

Found in nature, not manmade

3. Inorganic

Non-living

It is not alive and never was

Multiple Choice

Which is an example of something inorganic?

• Dolphin

• Wood

• Water

• Corn

4. Definite Chemical Compositions

Has a certain number of elements

Some have only 1 element, some have more

5. Crystalline Structure

A definite, repeating pattern in which atoms are arranged

Multiple Choice

What are the 5 characteristics of minerals?

• naturally occurring, solid, organic, crystalline structure, not a definite chemical composition

• naturally occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline structure, mixture

• naturally occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline structure, definite chemical composition

• manmade, solid, organic, crystalline structure, not a definite chemical composition

How are minerals classified?

Based on chemical composition

Silicate Minerals

Made of silicon and oxygen

Make up the Earth

Nonsilicate Minerals

Do NOT contain silicate

Made of elements like: carbon, oxygen, iron and sulfur

Multiple Choice

What is true of minerals?

• It was once a living thing

• It is a solid

• It is man made

• It has NO chemical composition

Multiple Choice

A repeating pattern in a mineral is called...

• texture

• crystalline structure

• luster

• hardness

Multiple Choice

An example of an element in a nonsilicate mineral is....

• carbon

• sulfur

• nickel

• cerium

What properties can be used to identify minerals?

Color

-Surface color

-NOT a good way to identify a mineral

Streak

-Color of a mineral's powder

-Rub against a white tile

-More reliable than color of outside of the mineral

Luster

-The way a mineral reflects light

-Can be metallic or non-metallic

Multiple Choice

What kind of luster does this mineral have?

• Metallic

• Non-metallic

Cleavage

-Breaks easily along flat surfaces

Fracture

-Breaks along uneven surfaces (jagged edges)

Multiple Choice

Does this mineral exhibit cleavage or fracture?

• Cleavage

• Fracture

Multiple Choice

Does this mineral exhibit cleavage or fracture?

• Cleavage

• Fracture

Hardness

-Ability to resist scratching

-Moh's hardness scale

-Diamond = 10 (hardest mineral)

Multiple Choice

What mineral would Flourite scratch according to Moh's hardness scale?

• Diamond

• Talc

• Topaz

• Quartz

Multiple Choice

Talc is a soft mineral that can be scratched with a finger nail. It would be located at number _________ on the Moh's Hardness Scale.

• 10

• 8

• 5

• 1

Multiple Choice

Refer to the Moh's Hardness Scale. A mineral with a hardness of 7 can scratch

• Corundum

• Diamond

• Gypsum

• Topaz

Multiple Choice

Using the Moh's hardness scale answer the following question. A steel nail would scratch topaz.

• True

• False