Mineral Chemistry

Ms. Puryear’s class has been studying properties of minerals in science. She has a mineral sample and wants to know which mineral it is. She performed a scratch test using her fingernail, a copper penny, glass, and a steel nail. Which property is Ms. Puryear testing?

• Cleavage

• Hardness

• Luster

• Color

According to the Moh’s Scale of Mineral Hardness pictured, the sample mineral that will scratch gypsum but not apatite is MOST LIKELY

• Calcite

• Talc

• Quartz

• Topaz

Why do you need to run several tests before you can identify a mineral with 100 percent certainty?

• Minerals all have the same chemical structure

• Many minerals share physical properties in common

• Minerals' physical properties can change very quickly

• A mineral can only be subjected to a few tests before it degrades

How do minerals form?

• When magma heats up, minerals boil to the top

• When magma heats up water, minerals cool it down

• When magma cools down, its molecules form crystals

• When magma is still in a volcano, it is full of minerals

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-1

Glassy, shiny, opaque, dull. These are words that can be used to describe a mineral's ​ (a)  

• luster.

• hardness.

• streak.

Click on each vocabulary word, then click in the correct box on the graphic organizer.

a

b

c

d

streak

cleavage

luster

hardness

Match the term with the definition

• Cleavage

• The tendency to break unevenly into piece that are curved or irregular

• Hardness

• Measure of an ability of a mineral to resist scratching

• Fracture

• The tendency of a mineral to split smoothly.

What is a mineral?

• A small part that makes up a nucleus of an atom

• An unnatural element that is always liquid

• Any gas that is found on the Periodic Table

• A natural occurring element that is not a plant or animal

Where does table salt come from?

• It is formed by flowing magma

• It is left behind after a volcano erupts

• It is formed by freezing water

• It is left behind as a solution when water evaporates

For a science experiment, a student rubs a mineral against a porcelain plate. The students has just performed

• Hardness test

• Acid Test

• Streak Test

• Fracture Test