Rocks and Minerals - Investigation 2 Review 2021

Why is color alone unable to identify a unknown mineral?

• A. Many minerals have the same color.

• B. Specific minerals change colors when cleaved.

• C. Certain levels of hardness have specific colors.

• Minerals change colors when exposed to light.

Luke and Lilly have gathered a collection of rock samples from the school yard to study. They scraped the rocks against a their fingernail and a penny. Which property of minerals are the students investigating?

• A. Texture

• B. Color

• C. Hardness

• D. Streak

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

Students observed that a diamond was able to scratch a piece of talc. What does this observation BEST support?

• A. Diamonds have sharp edges.

• B. Talc is softer than diamonds.

• C. Diamonds are very valuable.

• D. Talc and diamonds are both minerals

Which property is the MOST reliable for identifying one mineral from another?

• A. texture

• B. hardness

• C. crystal shape

• D. surface color

Refers to a mineral’s ability to scratch another mineral or be scratched by another mineral.

• Luster

• Hardness

• Streak

• Specific gravity

A mineral that is rare and can be cut and polished, giving it a beautiful appearance

• Ore

• Crystal

• Gem

• Rock

What is the hardest mineral?

• graphite

• fluorite

• diamond

• gypsum

The hardness of a mineral is measured by a scale known as...

• Luster scale

• Hardness scale

• Moh's scale

• Transmissivity scale

What was the purpose of the scratch test?

• to find if the rock contained calcite
• to find the hardness of the mineral 
• to find the color

A precious stone that has been cut or polished.

• fossil

• cleavage

• gem

• luster