Minerals Q&A

.docx

School

Chaffey College *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

1

Subject

Geology

Date

Dec 6, 2023

Type

docx

Pages

5

Uploaded by ChefPower12623

Report
Minerals Q&A 1. What is the difference between a mineral and a rock? Minerals are the building blocks of rocks like letters make up words. 2. Why isn’t cubic zirconia considered a mineral? Minerals are naturally occurring; manufactured chemical crystals like zirconia are not crystals. 3. Glass can’t be x-rayed because the silicon and oxygen atoms don’t line up in regular arrays. So, what is glass lacking to be considered a mineral? Atoms must line up in a repeating array (crystal structure). 4. The mineral calcite is mainly made of calcium carbonate, but some of the calcium can be replaced by magnesium. Which of the four parts of the definition of a mineral does this fall under? A definite chemical composition. 5. Why isn’t a jet, which is very hard coal made into jewelry, considered a mineral? It is organic, and minerals must be non-organic. 6. What classification do most minerals fall under? Silicates. 7. What geometric shape do silicates have with the silicon-bonded to four oxygen? Tetrahedron. 8. Looking at the diagram on the far right, what silicate structure do mica and clays have? Sheet silicate structure. 9. Looking at the non-silicates at the bottom left, which group does pyrite belong to? The sulfide group. 10. When panning for gold, the gold stays in the bottom of the pan, and all the lighter minerals are floated out. What property of gold is being used here? Gold is dense, so it sinks to the bottom. 11. If you hit a large block of salt from a mine, it breaks into smaller and smaller cubes. What property of minerals is this called? Crystal structure / Cleave.
12. Geologists can often tell minerals apart by seeing which mineral can scratch another. What property of minerals is this called? Hardness. 13. In most mine dumps, you can see a bright gold mineral: fool’s gold. It looks almost identical to real gold. What property of minerals is this called? Color. 14. Why is gold usually found by itself in nature as a pure element and not in a compound? It is chemically unreactive, so it occurs as native gold. 15. What property of gold discourages using pure 24kt gold in jewelry? Its softness. 16. Gold is sometimes used to cover domes on ceremonial buildings. What property of gold allows this to be economically possible? Its malleability; it can be rolled out into thin, almost transparent, sheets. 17. Gold miners often look for where stream gravels meet depressions in the bedrock on river bottoms to find gold. What property of gold lets it accumulate in these depressions? Its density. 18. What would gold mining companies have to do to the Sierra Nevada today to make large- scale gold mining profitable? Take down the mountains. 19. What new piece of equipment that anyone can buy for a few hundred dollars is being used to find gold in the old mining tunnels? Metal detectors. 20. Placer mining is locating gold in streams and rivers. What is gold mining that uses tunnels into hard rock called? Lode mining. 21. What mineral is gold most commonly associated with? Quartz. 22. What is the simple reason that placer mining has declined so much in California? Most of the easy-to-find gold has been removed.
23. What is the best place for placer mining in southern California? The East Fork of the San Gabriel River above Azusa. 24. What type of large-scale gold mining is profitable today? Open pit mining. 25. What dangerous chemical is used to leach gold out of rocks? Cyanide. 26. How many sides does a quartz crystal have? Six. 27. What color is pure quartz with no metallic or water impurities? Clear. 28. What is the most common mineral on Earth? Feldspar. 29. What does quartz need to grow into large hexagonal crystals? Space. 30. Why does quartz form irregular grains in granite rock, not beautiful hexagonal crystals? Lack of space in the granite rock. 31. Where does all the quartz that comes out of granite and gets carried down from the mountains by streams to rivers eventually end up? The beach. 32. Why does quartz last practically forever? Quartz is chemically tough. 33. Why does gold remain in the super hot solutions moving through the crust until the very last minute when everything cools down and ends up in quartz? Gold doesn’t easily combine with other minerals, so it stays in the liquid phase until it cools. 34. Our mountains have very little gold compared to the northern Sierra Nevada. What seafloor features do our local mountains lack that the Sierra has? Hydrothermal vents. 35. What causes amethyst to be purple-colored?
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
  • Access to all documents
  • Unlimited textbook solutions
  • 24/7 expert homework help