Deck 3: Minerals The Building Blocks of Rocks

Question 1

How do a rock and a mineral differ?

Answer 1

A rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of minerals,while minerals are naturally occurring,inorganic crystalline solids.Rocks are made up of minerals,not vice versa.

Question 2

What are the eight chemical elements that make up over 99 percent of Earth's crust?

Answer 2

O,Si,Al,Fe,Mg,Ca,Na,K

Question 3

The United States is totally dependent on imports of some resources.Some of these imports come from politically unstable parts of the world.What choices are there for resolving this problem?

Answer 3

Answers will vary.The U.S.could try to find the needed mineral resources within the country but some are not available in large enough quantities or would require mining in environmentally or culturally sensitive areas.The U.S.could try to find the resources in friendlier nations.Developing alternatives to these resources is another possibility.For example,we could try to become less dependent on petroleum by developing other types of energy resources.

Question 4

Name three properties commonly exhibited by minerals that have metallic bonding.

Question 5

How many minerals are common?

Question 6

Out of more than 100 chemical elements that have been identified in nature,how many are relatively abundant in Earth's crust?

Question 7

Give an example of a ferromagnesian silicate.

Question 8

Name one property commonly exhibited by minerals that have Van der Waals' bonding.

Question 9

For each of the following objects,state where it can be found,and what its charge is: proton,electron,nucleus.

Question 10

Give one example of each of the carbonates,sulfates,sulfides,and halides.

Question 11

Give an example of a nonferromagnesian silicate.

Question 12

Why do most minerals,as measured by rock volume,belong to the silicate group?

Question 13

What is a mineral?

Question 14

The chemical formula of halite is NaCl.In simple terms,state how these atoms come together to form a solid mineral.

Question 15

What is a rock?

Question 16

Discuss how carbon atoms come together to form diamonds.

Question 17

Diamond and graphite are two minerals with the same chemical composition,but extremely different physical properties.Why is this?

Question 18

Name one example for each of the following types of tetrahedra: isolated tetrahedra,single chain tetrahedra,double chain tetrahedra,sheet tetrahedra,and framework tetrahedral.

Question 19

How many mineral have been identified and described?

Question 20

What is meant when minerals are referred to as "crystalline solids?"

Question 21

List,in increasing order of hardness,the minerals of the Mohs hardness scale.

Question 22

What is a simple chemical test that will distinguish calcite from non-carbonate minerals?

Question 23

Name three factors that determine whether a known mineral resource in an area can become a reserve.

Question 24

The atomic mass of an atom is defined as the sum of the number of its ____________________ plus ____________________.

Question 25

If a diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance,how can one be "cut"?

Question 26

What is the most distinctive physical property of the mineral halite?

Question 27

Give an example of a native element.

Question 28

Carbon-12 (C¹²),carbon-13 (C¹³),and carbon-14 (C¹⁴)are all ____________________ of the ____________________ carbon.

Question 29

____________________ and ____________________ are mineral compounds which are commonly produced by animals and are known as calcium ____________________.

Question 30

Atoms of the same chemical element,carbon for example,always have the same number of ____________________ in the nucleus.

Question 31

The number of electrons in an atom of an element is always equal to the number of ____________________.

Question 32

The silicon atom of the silica tetrahedron has a (+/-)____________________ charge of ____ (number),and the oxygen atoms have a (+/-)____________________ charge of ____ (number).Therefore,the ion group has an overall (+/-)____________________ charge of ____ (number).

Question 33

In the ____________________ type of chemical bonding,electrons are shared between adjacent atoms.

Question 34

C¹² has 6 protons.How many protons does C¹³ have? ____ How many neutrons does C¹³ have? ____ Nitrogen-14 (N¹⁴)has 6 protons and 8 neutrons: true or false? ____________________

Question 35

Different isotopes of the same element differ from each other because they have different ____________________.

Question 36

Minerals are chemically classified by their ____________________.

Question 37

The two factors which determine whether or not an element can substitute for another element in the composition of a mineral are the ____________________ and ____________________ of the atoms.

Question 38

How does a mineral reserve differ from a mineral resource?

Question 39

The chemical formula KAlS₃O₈ means that the mineral orthoclase is composed of one atom of K and one of Al for every ____ of Si and ____ of O.

Question 40

Give an example of a rock that is composed of only one mineral.

Question 41

Amorphous minerals are

A) without form.
B) lacking an orderly arrangement of atoms.
C) well-developed crystals.
D) nonexistent.

Question 42

Covalent bonds differ from ionic bonds in that ____.

A) ionic bonds arise from electrical attraction between positively and negatively charged ions
B) covalent bonds arise from the sharing of one or more electrons
C) covalent bonds can occur between atoms of the same element
D) ionic bonds arise from electrical attraction between positively and negatively charged ions AND covalent bonds arise from the sharing of one or more electrons
E) all of these

Question 43

Cleavage is defined as

A) planes of fracture resulting from weak bonds
B) smooth, flat reflective surfaces
C) surfaces of smooth, curved fracture
D) planes of fracture resulting from strong bonds
E) none of these

Question 44

The hardest,most chemically inert common rock-forming mineral is ____________________.

Question 45

Placer deposits form because

A) gold is lighter weight than other rocks and minerals and floats to the surface.
B) hot fluids travel through bedrock and create mineral veins.
C) minerals with covalent bonds transition to ionic bonding.
D) running water separates and concentrates minerals and rock fragments by their density.

Question 46

Common examples of sulfide and sulfate minerals,respectively,are ____.

A) galena and pyrite
B) gypsum and anhydrite
C) galena and gypsum
D) galena and hematite
E) fluorite and pyrite

Question 47

In different specimens of the same type of mineral the interfacial angles between crystal faces are

A) greater than 90 degrees.
B) less than 90 degrees.
C) identical.
D) zero.

Question 48

Isotopes of the same element have ____.

A) different numbers of protons but the same number of neutrons
B) the same number of electrons and different numbers of neutrons
C) different numbers of neutrons but the same number of protons
D) different numbers of electrons but the same number of neutrons
E) none of these

Question 49

Which of the following are all examples of minerals?

A) bronze, steel, glass, aluminum, pencil lead
B) gold, silver, uranium, lead, silica, iron
C) copper, ice, quartz, topaz, diamond, corundum
D) water, mercury, metallic hydrogen, limestone
E) petroleum, coal, iron, feldspar, basalt

Question 50

The relatively massive,positively-charged particles in the nucleus of an atom are called what?

A) protons
B) neutrons
C) electrons
D) megatrons
E) none of these

Question 51

For a neutrally-charged atom to become a positively-charged atom of the same element it must do what?

A) lose a proton
B) lose an electron
C) gain a proton
D) gain an electron
E) none of these

Question 52

Which of the following is not true of minerals? They are (have)____.

A) crystalline
B) organic
C) naturally occurring
D) definite chemical composition
E) characteristic physical properties

Question 53

Elements bond together to form molecules because ____.

A) they are most stable when their outer electron shell is filled
B) they need to have a positive charge
C) they need to have a negative charge
D) they are glued together by positrons
E) none of these

Question 54

The most abundant rock-forming minerals are the nonferromagnesian silicates called the ____________________.

Question 55

An example of a material which has been both a resource and a reserve,depending on abundance,economic conditions,and mining technology is which of the following?

A) platinum
B) gold
C) petroleum
D) iron
E) all of these

Question 56

What is an atom?

A) a negatively charged particle that circles a nucleus
B) a positively charged particle within a nucleus
C) the smallest particle into which an element can be divided while still retaining the chemical characteristics of that element
D) a combination of elements
E) a negatively charged particle that orbits the nucleus

Question 57

Ionic bonds occur when electrons ____.

A) are transferred between atoms
B) are shared by atoms
C) have a neutral charge
D) have a positive charge
E) none of these

Question 58

The positively charged atom in the above question is also called what?

A) a positron
B) a neutron
C) an ion
D) an isotope
E) none of these

Question 59

Which of the following is an example of a mineral resource?

A) sand
B) gold
C) petroleum
D) salt
E) all of these

Question 60

The two basic types of luster are ____________________ and ____________________.

Question 61

Mica and clay minerals have a platy crystal form because they have a sheet-like structure of silica tetrahedra.

Question 62

Van der Waals bonds occur between atoms or compounds without free electrons.

Question 63

Minerals may have chemical compositions that vary within a range.

Question 64

Some naturally-occurring minerals have healing properties.

Question 65

The United States is self-sufficient in petroleum.

Question 66

The United States is self-sufficient in gold.

Question 67

Specific gravity is the ratio of a mineral's weight to the weight of an equal volume of water at 4-degrees C.

Question 68

Minerals of the amphibole group have their silica tetrahedra arranged in double chains.

Question 69

All minerals are compounds.

Question 70

Ice is a mineral,but water is not.

Question 71

Olivine is an example of a mineral with isolated silica tetrahedra.

Question 72

Noble gases are chemically inert because their outer electron shell is filled.

Question 73

The number of neutrons in an atom always equals the number of protons.