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33 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What is a mineral?
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Any naturally occurring inorganic solid that possesses an orderly crystalline structure and a definite chemical composition.
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Naturally occuring
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This tells us that a mineral forms by natural, geologic processes.
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Solid
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Must be solid at temperatures normally experienced at Earth's surface.
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Orderly crystalline structure
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atoms are arranged in orderly, repetitive manner
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What does amorphous mean?
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without form
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definite chemical composition
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most minerals are chemical compounds made up of two or more elements.
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Generally inorganic
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made of inorganic crystalline solids
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What is a rock?
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Any solid mass of mineral, or mineral-like, matter that occurs naturally as part of our planet.
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What does aggregate mean?
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That the minerals are joined in such a way that the properties of each mineral are retained.
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What is an element?
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a large collection of electrically neutral atoms, all having the same atomic number.
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What is an atom?
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The smallest particle of matter that retains the essential characteristics of an element.
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What is an energy level (shells)?
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The individual electrons are located at given distances from the nucleus in these regions.
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What is an atomic number?
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The number of protons in an atom's nucleus.
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What is a compound?
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It is composed of two or more elements bonded together in definite proportions.
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What is an ion?
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Atoms that have an electrical charge because of a gain or loss of electrons.
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What is the mass number?
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The total of an atom's neutrons and protons in the nucleus.
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What is are isotopes?
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Variants of the same element.
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What is radioactive decay?
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When a decaying atom actively radiates energy and particles.
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What is crystal form?
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The external expression of a mineral's internal orderly arrangement of atoms.
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What is luster?
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The appearance or quality of light reflected from the surface of a mineral.
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What is color?
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An obvious feature of a mineral, it is ofter an unreliable diagnostic property.
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What is streak?
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The color of a mineral in its powered form, which is a much more reliable indication of color.
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What is hardness?
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One of most useful diagnostic properties. It is the resistance of a mineral to abrasion or scratching.
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What is Mohs scale?
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The standard hardness scale that geologists use.
10=hardest 1=softest |
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What is cleavage?
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The tendency of a mineral to break along planes of weak bonding.
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What is fracture?
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What minerals do that don't exhibit cleavage when broken.
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What is specific gravity?
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It compares the weight of a mineral to the weight of an equal volume of water.
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What are the eight elements that represent most of the minerals of earth's crust?
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Oxygen, silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium.
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What are silicates?
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it is the most common mineral group. It is made when silicon and oxygen combine.
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What is Silicon-oxygen tetrahedron?
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The fundamental building blocks of silicates. Consists of 4 oxygen surrounding a smaller silicon atom.
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What are mineral resources?
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Earth's storehouse of useful minerals that can be recovered for use.
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What are reserves?
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Identified deposits from which mineral can be extracted profitably.
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What is ore?
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Useful metallic minerals that can be mined at a profit.
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