Silicates make up about how much of the rocks in Earth's crust?

Quartz, feldspar, and mica are all common

Which of the following are the most common groups of rock-forming minerals?

All minerals are

To identify a mineral, scientists may scratch a mineral against a surface. The color of the powder left behind is the mineral's

The two major types of nminral luster are

A quartz sample breaks into many irregular pieces. This is an example of

Determining the manner in which a mineral breaks is helpful when

The type of mining used when ore is removed from an open pit is called

A miner digs a vertical tunnel far beneath Earth's surface to reach gold ore. This is an example of

The cooling of hot water is one way in which

An ore is a rock that contains enough of a valuable mineral to be

Molten rock that reaches Earth's surface is called

The bonds between layers of graphite are weak. Graphite easily breaks along the surfaces of these layers. This is an example of _________________

____________ is the tendency of a mineral to break into irregular pieces.

A mineral's _____ is its resistance to being scratched.

Hematite leaves a reddish-brown powder behind when it is scratched along a surface. The color of this powder is hematite's ____________

The mass of a gold nugget is much higher than that of a piece of ice of the same size. Gold, therefore, has a higher _____ than ice.

A mineral looks like it is made of metal when light reflects from its surface. Such a mineral has a metallic _____________

A mineral can be either a solid or liquid.

Minerals have a definite chemical makeup.

An element is a substance that contains many different types of atoms.

Minerals have a crystal structure in which atoms are arranged in no particular pattern.

The oxides are the most common group of rock-forming minerals.

Minerals form in nature.

Which of the following is true?

The most common rock-forming minerals are

Rock-forming minerals contain elements that are common in Earth's

The color of a mineral when it is ground into a powder is its

Which of the following is one way to tell which of two minerals is harder?

The best way to tell a pyrite sample from a gold sample of similar size is to compare their

When you say a mineral is "metallic", you are talking about its

If a mineral has perfect cleavage, it

Calcite is a common mineral in seashells. Calcite is a mineral that can formed by

Miners who dig far beneath Earth's surface to remove ore use a method called