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EASC101 > Lecture 1: Mineral Properties > Flashcards

Lecture 1: Mineral Properties Flashcards

(100 cards)

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1
Q

What is a rock?

A

An aggregate of one or more minerals

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2
Q

What is granite made up of?

A

Quartz, 2 feldspars (orthoclase and albite), biotite (mica variety)

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3
Q

What is a mineral?

A

A naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline solid with a defined chemical composition and definite physical properties

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4
Q

What mineral is emerald made from?

A

Beryl

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5
Q

What are cations?

A

Positive charge ions

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6
Q

What are anions?

A

Negative charge ions

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7
Q

What does a comma in a chemical equation denote?

A

Possible substitution

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8
Q

What is meant by naturally occurring?

A

Created/found in nature rather than a lab

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9
Q

Can a mineral be made in a lab?

A

No

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10
Q

Can a gem be made in a lab?

A

Yes

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11
Q

What is meant by having a chemical composition?

A

A mineral has a balanced chemical equation

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12
Q

What is meant by crystalline solid?

A

A repeating structure at the atomic level

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13
Q

What is meant by identifiable physical properties?

A

Things like (crystal) form, streak, lustre, cleavage

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14
Q

What is crystal form/habit?

A

The ideal shape of crystal faces

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15
Q

What do ideal faces of crystals require?

A

Ideal growth conditions

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16
Q

Examples of descriptive terms to characterize habit

A

Cubes, octahedra, blades, hexagonal prisms, dodecahedra, compound forms, rhombohedra, tetragonal prisms

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17
Q

How many known minerals are there?

A

More than 3500

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18
Q

How many minerals will we learn in the course?

A

18

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19
Q

To confidently identify minerals, must know

A

Physical properties and which are diagnostic

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20
Q

Define cleavage

A

Breakage along planes of weakness

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21
Q

How to test cleavage

A

Examine sample for planar breakage surfaces in one or more specific directions

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22
Q

Define fracture

A

Breakage, not along cleavage plane

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23
Q

How to test fracture

A

Examine sample for either irregular or conchoidal breakage surfaces

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24
Q

Define hardness

A

Resistance to scratching or abrasion

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25
How to test hardness
Use materials of known hardness to determine hardness of sample
26
Define lustre
Character of reflected light
27
How to test lustre
Does sample appear metallic or non-metallic?
28
Define crystal form
Geometric shape formed by the growth of crystal faces
29
How to test crystal form
Describe geometric shape: cubic, hexagonal, etc. (not commonly seen in most samples) *Be careful to distinguish the faces of crystals from cleavage planes
30
Define reaction to HCl
Chemical interaction of weak hydrochloric acid (HCl) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3)
31
How to test for reaction to HCl
Place a drop of HCl on sample and watch for a reaction (bubbles) (sometimes have to scratch the sample first)
32
Define streak
Colour of the mineral when the crystal is powdered
33
How to test streak
Rub sample on porcelain to determine the colour of streak
34
Ruby and sapphire are made from
Corundum
35
Steel blade hardness
5.5
36
Fingernail hardness
2.5
37
Copper penny hardness
3.5
38
Glass plate hardness
5.5
39
Mods hardness scale mnemonic
Tall girls can force apart Oreos quicker than clumsy dudes
40
Mohs hardness scale 1-10
Talc, gypsum, calcite, fluorite, apatite, orthoclase, quartz, topaz, corundum, diamond
41
A mineral breaks with
cleavage, fracture, or both
42
Difference between cleavage and fracture?
Cleavage breaks along planes of weakness, fracture doesn't
43
Cleavage appearance
A broken surface that is flat and shines like a reflective mirror
44
Conchoidal fracture appearance
A broken surface that is curved and shiny (glass breaks with conchoidal fractures)
45
Uneven fracture appearance
A broken surface that is irregular and dull (very little reflection of light off the broken surface)
46
Basal cleavage
1 direction, flat sheets
47
Prismatic cleavage at 90 degrees
2 directions, elongated form with rectangle cross section (prism)
48
Prismatic cleavage not at 90 degrees
2 directions, elongated form with parallelogram cross section (prism)
49
Cubic cleavage
3 directions, cube
50
Rhombic cleavage
3 directions not at 90 degrees, rhombohedron
51
Octahedral cleavage
4 directions, octahedron
52
Dodecahedral cleavage
6 directions, dodecahedron
53
Aligned bonds result in
A plane of weakness
54
The rock called granite is an aggregate of these minerals: quartz, feldspar, and __________.
biotite
55
Granite contains abundant feldspar. One variety is salmon pink in colour and is called ____________.
orthoclase
56
The mineral beryl in gem form (cut and polished) is called ________.
emerald
57
Olivine has a narrowly defined chemical composition that allows for some substitution of elements. The elements ____ and ____ can substitute for one another as they are about the same size and same charge.
Fe & Mg
58
Minerals are defined as naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline solids with narrowly defined chemical composition and definite physical properties. Crystalline means:
has an orderly and repetitive atomic structure
59
Calcite contains calcium and this polyatomic ion:
carbonate
60
All minerals are grouped into mineral classes (such as carbonates) based on their _________ ending.
anion
61
________ minerals show a wide variety of streak (the colour of the powdered mineral), so when you see one of these minerals in the lab then this is your first step in identification.
Metallic
62
The crystal form of quartz:
hexagonal prism
63
Calcite is identified based on physical properties including how it breaks (rhombic shapes), its hardness (hard enough to scratch glass), and its ________.
reaction to dilute HCl
64
Minerals range from very soft, to soft, to hard to very hard...thus identifying the hardness of a mineral is incredibly helpful in narrowing down the possibilities. Minerals that are softer than a fingernail include talc and __________.
gypsum
65
The mineral with a hardness of 6 on Mohs Hardness Scale is _________.
orthoclase
66
A mineral that does not leave a streak on a white porcelain streak plate is harder than the streak plate, thus it is harder than ____ on Mohs' Hardness Scale.
6.5
67
Which is harder, topaz or corundum?
Corundum
68
Quartz is a very hard mineral (H = 7) and does not break with cleavage in any direction. Any way you hit it with a rock hammer will result in shiny, smooth, curved breaks called _______ fractures.
conchoidal
69
Not only is hardness useful in narrowing down the possibilities, so is cleavage and fracture as there are many different ways for minerals to break. A mineral that breaks with prismatic cleavages breaks in how many directions?
2
70
There are few minerals that break with four cleavage directions. A relatively common mineral that does is __________.
fluorite
71
If you want to show a friend a mineral that nicely displays both cleavage and fracture, then __________ is an excellent choice with its two cleavage planes meeting at a right angle and fracture on the ends.
feldspar
72
Minerals have planes of weakness and thus break with cleavage when:
they have aligned bonds
73
When you look through a transparent (clear, colourless) calcite rhomb, the rays of light passing through it are polarized and results in two images - this is called:
double refraction
74
Calcite
Carbonate mineral CaCO3 reacts with dilute HCl hardness 3 rhombic cleavage double refraction (2 images) NM
75
Quartz
Silicate SiO2 conchoidal fractures hardness 7 no cleavage vitreous lustre white streak NM hexagonal
76
Muscovite mica
Silicate KAl2(Al1Si3O10)(OH,F)2 hardness 2-2.5 1 plane of cleavage (basal) splits into thin sheets pearly lustre white streak
77
Biotite mica
Silicate K(Mg,Fe)3(Al, Si3O10)(OH,F)2 hardness 2.5-3 1 plane of cleavage (basal) splits into thin sheets dark colour vitreous or pearly lustre white or light grey streak NM
78
Magnetite
Oxide Fe3O4 hardness 6-6.5 no cleavage silvery grey to black dark grey streak opaque forms octahedrons attracted to a magnet M or NM
79
Talc
Silicate Mg3Si4O10(OH)2 hardness 1 no cleavage silky to greasy luster feels greasy or soapy white streak NM
80
Olivine
Silicate (Fe,Mg)2SiO4 hardness 7 forms short crystals that may resemble sand grains no cleavage conchoidal fracture brittle green white streak NM (peridot as gem)
81
Dolomite
Carbonate CaMg(CO3)2 Excellent cleavage 3 directions (cubic) breaks into rhombohedrons hardness 3.5-4 white streak resembles calcite but will effervesce in HCl only if powdered NM hexagonal
82
Sphalerite
Sulphide ZnS Dodecahedral cleavage smells like rotten eggs when scratched/powdered hardness 3.5-4 Silvery yellow-brown, dark red, or black; tarnishes brown or black, white to pale yellow-brown streak M or NM isometric
83
Fluorite
Halide CaF2 Colourless, purple, blue, grey, green, or yellow excellent cleavage in 4 directions (octahedral) crystals usually cubes transparent or opaque brittle hardness 4 streaks white NM isometric
84
Rocks are aggregates of minerals. What minerals comprise granite?
Quartz Biotite 2 feldspars: orthoclase and albite (orthoclase is potassium-rich, albite is sodium-rich)
85
Provide the definition of a mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring, inorganic crystalline solid with a defined chemical composition and definite physical properties
86
What is the charge on the columns in the periodic table of elements?
Left to right: 1+ 2+ variable 3+ 4+ 3- 2- 1- 0
87
Provide the balanced chemical formula for calcite
CaCO3 Ca2+ + C4+ + 3O2-
88
Provide the balanced chemical formula for olivine
(Fe,Mg)2SiO4 2Fe/Mg2+ + 2Si4+ + 4O2-
89
Provide the balanced chemical formula for quartz
SiO2 Si4+ + 2O2-
90
Calcite is a carbonate mineral. What does that mean?
It has an anion ending of CO3
91
What is crystal form?
Form is the shape the mineral would grow in if it could grow as a crystal (into open space)
92
What is streak?
Streak is the colour of the powdered form of the mineral
93
What is lustre?
Lustre is the mineral's shine, ie. does it shine like a metal or non-metal
94
Provide the chemical equation for the acid reaction of calcite
CaCO3 + 2HCl --> CaCl2 + H2O + CO2
95
Give Mohs' Hardness Scale and also note the hardness of common testing materials
1-10 Talc Gypsum Calcite Fluorite Apatite Orthoclase Quartz Topaz Corundum Diamond Fingernail 2.5 Copper penny 3.5 Wire nail 4.5 Glass and knife blade 5.5 Streak plate 6.5
96
How does one recognize cleavage, conchoidal fracture, and fracture?
By observing the sample: Cleavage shows a broken surface that is flat and shines like a reflective mirror Conchoidal fracture shows a broken surface that is curved and shiny Uneven fracture shows a broken surface that is irregular and dull (very little reflection)
97
Provide a list of the different types of mineral cleavage
Basal cleavage 1 direction, prismatic cleavage 2 directions at 90 or not, cubic cleavage 3 directions at 90, rhombic cleavage 3 directions not at 90, octahedral cleavage 4 directions, dodecahedral cleavage 6 directions
98
How does quartz break?
With conchoidal fracture
99
How does orthoclase break?
Prismatic cleavage at 90 and uneven fracture
100
Why do some minerals break with cleavage?
Because they have aligned bonds in their chemical structure

EASC101 (3 decks)

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