Science Chapter 3: Minerals – Flashcards

a natural substance with a crystal structure; they are inorganic; form shapes, all solid; definite chemical composition

scratch rock and weigh powder; rated 1-10 (softest-hardest); higher can scratch lower but not the other way

Not made of anything that was ever living (nothing living is ever found in minerals)

color of a mineral's powder (testable)

the way light reflects off a mineral (observation)

mass/volume; how tightly packed the particles are; mas-weight volume-water displacement

repeated and same distinct pattern; flat faces meet at edges.

slow cooling leads to large crystals (the longer it cools, the bigger they are)

a narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different from the surrounding rock

a rock that contains a metal or other useful mineral and can be mined then sold as profit

a hard, colorful mineral that has a brilliant luster; used for cutting and jewelry; rare, durable, and valuable. Ex. rubies, sapphires

a mix of two or more elements, one of which is a metal

ore is mixed with other substances and melted to separate the useful minerals

Diamond

Talc

a scientist who observes and studies rock

anyone who searches, or prospects, for an ore deposit

patterns and lines that make patterns and/or has straight lines

jagged and random breaks and shape

digging a deep hole in a larger circular cone motion down

most money, most dangerous, most ore produced; drill a tunnel a mile or two deep with planks and stuff, they collapse easily

least money and least ore produced; take a bulldozer and scrap off the top layer of Earth

searching for an ore deposit; geologists use observations, maps, details from past finds, and Earth's magnetic field

Iron+Carbon

Steel+Manganese

Steel+Chromium+Nickel

Smelting is a five step process. First, iron ore is crushed and mixed with crushed limestone and coke, which is carbon rich. Second, the mixture is placed in a blast furnace, where extremely hot air is blown through, making the coke burn. Third, the coke is burning and releasing chemical changes in the nix, producing carbon dioxide gas and molten iron. Next, the dense, molten iron sinks to the bottom of the furnace while the slag, impurities, rises. Finally, they are poured out through separate tubes.

The streak of a rock can provide a clue to a mineral's identity. You take the rock and the unglazed side of a porcelain tile. Then, you swipe the rock against it. It releases a colored powder often different from its outside color. For example, pyrite has a gold color, but when tested, it appears to show a greenish, black streak. On the other hand, real gold is, well, gold and the same when tested.

A mineral has to be naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, have a crystal structure, and have a definite chemical composition. Coal is not a mineral because it is carbon-based and came from fossilized plants. That proves that it is organic and has no definite chemical composition, defying two rules you would need to follow to be a mineral. Glass is a non-crystalline solid. This means that the atoms are not arranged in a regular and repeating pattern. A mineral by definition possess a crystalline form, it has its elements arranged in a regular and repeating pattern.