U6L1 Minerals

About 95 percent of Earth's crust is made up of silicate minerals. Which of the following best describes silicate minerals?

• minerals containing silicon and oxygen

• minderals containing only atoms of silicon

• minerals containing only atoms of carbon

• minerals containing carbon and hydrogen

Petrified wood is a type of fossil. It forms when a tree is buried and over time all of its tissues are replaced with quartz. Which evidence explains why petrified wood is classified as a mineral?

• It is made up of nonliving crystals.

• It originally came from a living thing.

• It is a solid, not a liquid or a gas.

• It is had and cannot be cut with a saw.

Diamond is a valuable mineral that is made up of carbon atoms arranged in a repeating pattern. This repeating patter gives diamonds their hardness. Which of these characteristics do diamonds share with all minerals?

• extreme hardness

• rarity and high cost

• orderly crystal structure

• made up of carbon atoms

Minerals that contain combinations of carbon and oxygen are examples of which type of mineral?

• carbonate

• halide

• silicates

• oxides

Obsidian is volcanic silicon dioxide glass that forms naturally when lava cools quickly. Because the lava cools so quickly, crystals do not have time to form. Which evidence explains why obsidian is not classified as a mineral?

• It contains silicon dioxide.

• It does not come from a living thing.

• It does not have an orderly internal structure.

• It formed from melted rock rather than from sediment.

The way in which a mineral reflects light

• streak

• luster

• hardness

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS4-2

The splitting of a mineral along smooth, flat surfaces

• fracture

• cleavage

• hardness

The color of the powder of a mineral

• hardness

• streak

• luster

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-2