Deck 2: Atoms, Elements, and Minerals

Question 1

Calcite (calcium carbonate) is the most common non-silicate mineral in the Earth's crust.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

A mineral specimen with a Mohs hardness of 5 can scratch a mineral specimen with a hardness of 3.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Minerals that have the same chemical composition but have different crystalline structures exhibit polymorphism

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Specific gravity is the ratio of a mass of a substance to the mass of an equal volume of air.

Question 5

The atomic mass number is equal to the number of neutrons in an atom.

Question 6

The crystal form of a mineral is a set of faces that have a definite geometric relationship to one another.

Question 7

Color is the least reliable physical property in mineral identification.

Question 8

All of the most common rock-forming minerals in Earth's crust are silicate minerals.

Question 9

Rocks are defined as naturally-formed aggregates of minerals or mineral-like substances.

Question 10

The innermost energy level in the standard model of an atom is full when it possesses eight electrons.

Question 11

The quality and intensity of light that is reflected from the surface of a mineral is termed luster.

Question 12

Silica is a term for oxygen combined with silicon.

Question 13

Non-silicate minerals are more abundant in the deeper parts of Earth's crust than in the crust as a whole.

Question 14

Clay minerals are very common in the Earth's upper mantle.

Question 15

Both graphite and diamond are made of carbon.

Question 16

It is clear that exposure to white asbestos causes cancer among non-smoking asbestos workers.

Question 17

The number of neutrons in an atom controls the chemical behavior of an element.

Question 18

The atomic number of an element is equal to the number of protons in each atom.

Question 19

Diamond has no cleavage.

Question 20

A mineral is defined as a crystalline solid that is naturally occurring, has a specific chemical composition and forms through geologic processes.

Question 21

_______ of an element are atoms containing different numbers of neutrons but the same number of protons.

A) Ions
B) Classes
C) Particles
D) Isotopes
E) Varieties

Question 22

The atomic number of an element equals the number of _____ in each atom.

A) electrons
B) neutrons
C) protons
D) Answers neutrons and protons are both correct; answer a is not correct.
E) Answers electrons, neutrons and protons are all correct.

Question 23

The mineral ___ is an example of a native element.

A) quartz
B) feldspar
C) calcite
D) graphite
E) halite

Question 24

The isotope composition of _____ in foraminifera shells from sediment cores are used to determine climate change in Earth history.

A) oxygen
B) carbon
C) uranium
D) lead
E) helium

Question 25

Two examples of framework silicates are _____ and ______.

A) calcite; dolomite
B) olivine; pyroxene
C) quartz; feldspar
D) biotite; muscovite
E) amphibole; olivine

Question 26

When seawater evaporates, its sodium and chlorine are electronically attracted to one another and crystallize into ___.

A) quartz
B) halite
C) clay
D) calcite
E) hematite

Question 27

The _____ group and the ___ group are sheet silicates characterized by one direction of cleavage.

A) amphibole; pyroxene
B) feldspar; quartz
C) olivine; plagioclase
D) mica; clay
E) carbonate; sulfide

Question 28

The common mineral ___ is an example of an isolated silica tetrahedron structure.

A) amphibole
B) feldspar
C) olivine
D) pyroxene
E) mica (biotite, muscovite, etc.)

Question 29

Five of the six minerals collectively known as asbestos contain single chains of silica tetrahedral and belong to the _______.

A) amphiboles
B) feldspars
C) olivines
D) pyroxenes
E) micas

Question 30

In order for a particular type of material to be classified as a mineral, it must ____.

A) be a solid
B) occur naturally
C) have a crystalline structure
D) have a definite chemical composition
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 31

The atomic mass number of common oxygen is 16 because it has ___ protons and ___ neutrons.

A) 7; 9
B) 8; 8
C) 9; 7
D) 5; 11
E) 10; 6

Question 32

The ______ group of minerals is characterized by two parallel chains of silica tetrahedra in their structure.

A) amphibole
B) feldspar
C) olivine
D) pyroxene
E) mica (biotite, muscovite, etc.)

Question 33

The _____ group of minerals are sheet silicates.

A) amphibole
B) feldspar
C) olivine
D) pyroxene
E) mica

Question 34

Non-silicate minerals include the halides like _____.

A) calcite
B) halite
C) magnetite
D) pyrite
E) gypsum

Question 35

_____ is the ability of a mineral to break, when struck or split, along preferred planar directions.

A) Cleavage
B) Crystal form
C) Facets
D) Planes
E) Form

Question 36

The atomic mass number of an atom is the total number of ___ in the atom.

A) electrons
B) neutrons
C) protons
D) protons and neutrons
E) protons, neutrons, and electrons

Question 37

Carbon-14 has eight __.

A) protons
B) nuclei
C) neutrons
D) isotopes
E) atoms

Question 38

The two most abundant elements in Earth's crust are __.

A) iron and magnesium
B) carbon and hydrogen
C) carbon and oxygen
D) hydrogen and oxygen
E) oxygen and silicon

Question 39

A silica tetrahedron is composed of four atoms of the element ___ and one atom of __.

A) silicon; aluminum
B) silicon; oxygen
C) silicon; iron
D) oxygen; silicon
E) aluminum; silicon

Question 40

The mineral ___ reacts with weak hydrochloric acid to produce carbon dioxide gas, i.e., it effervesces (fizzes) in dilute acid.

A) calcite
B) feldspar
C) quartz
D) biotite
E) amphibole

Question 41

The third most abundant element in the Earth's crust is ______; it is more common than iron.

A) magnesium
B) aluminum
C) calcium
D) fluorine
E) tin

Question 42

______ is an expansive (swells when wet) clay mineral.

A) Quartz
B) Olivine
C) Pyroxene
D) Montmorillonite
E) Mica

Question 43

The most common minerals in the Earth's crust are the _______.

A) silicates
B) carbonates
C) halides
D) sulfides
E) sulfates

Question 44

Calcite has ___ direction of cleavage.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
E) 6

Question 45

Plagioclase feldspar commonly exhibits __, straight, parallel lines on the flat surfaces of one of the two cleavage directions.

A) parallelograms
B) grooves
C) lamitations
D) striations
E) laminations

Question 46

On Mohs' scale of hardness your fingernail has a value of ____.

A) 12
B) 5
C) 2½
D) 6½
E) 9

Question 47

____ has the property of generating electricity when squeezed in a certain crystallographic direction.

A) Copper
B) Mica
C) Amphibole
D) Gold
E) Quartz

Question 48

____ is the most common element in the Earth's crust.

A) Oxygen
B) Iron
C) Magnesium
D) Hydrogen
E) Fluorine

Question 49

The mineral ___ is strongly magnetic.

A) calcite
B) pyrite
C) magnetite
D) magnesite
E) quartz

Question 50

In some minerals the bonds are equally strong in all directions, therefore they have no cleavage but instead _____ along irregular surfaces that are commonly curved.

A) luminesce
B) chip
C) flatten
D) bend
E) fracture

Question 51

The softest mineral on Mohs' hardness scale is ____.

A) gypsum
B) talc
C) diamond
D) quartz
E) mica

Question 52

What is the special property of the mineral halite?

A) It has 5 directions of cleavage.
B) It has a hardness of -3.
C) It can transmit electricity.
D) It tastes like salt.
E) It has an extremely high melting temperature.

Question 53

____ elements make up 98% of the Earth's crust.

A) Fourteen
B) Ninety-two
C) Two
D) Twenty
E) Eight

Question 54

_______ are the smallest electrically neutral assemblies of matter and energy that we know of in the universe.

A) Isotopes
B) Atoms
C) Ions
D) Electrons
E) Protons

Question 55

A pulverized mineral (usually on a piece of white unglazed porcelain) gives a color called its ____, that is usually more reliable than the color of the specimen itself.

A) dust
B) chroma
C) streak
D) smear
E) powder

Question 56

_______ and sapphire are both varieties of the common mineral corundum.

A) Emerald
B) Turquoise
C) Ruby
D) Beryl
E) Peridot

Question 57

The hardest mineral has a hardness of ___ on Mohs' relative hardness scale.

A) 1
B) 10
C) 100
D) 1000
E) 10000

Question 58

Some minerals have the same chemical composition but different crystal structures, a phenomenon termed _______.

A) alteration
B) recrystallization
C) metamorphism
D) isotopes
E) polymorphism

Question 59

Specific gravity is the ratio of the mass of a mineral to the mass of an equal volume of __.

A) liquid water
B) solid water
C) quartz
D) diamond
E) air

Question 60

____, a Danish naturalist, was the first to note that the angle between two adjacent faces of a crystal of quartz is always exactly the same.

A) Einstein
B) Steno
C) Plummer
D) McGeary
E) Carlson