Earth Revealed-Minerals Answers PDF

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“Earth Revealed – Minerals: The Materials of Earth”

Please answer the following questions and turn in the answer sheet after class. 1. How do Geologists define “minerals”? Solid, Inorganic, naturally occurring, definite chemical composition, & crystalline structure (atoms arranged in an orderly pattern) 2. What are rocks? Aggregates of mineral grains (and mineral-like substances) 3. How are minerals like fossils? It’s a historian of a past time. Minerals record when and where they formed 4. Which four minerals are common rock-forming minerals? Quartz, olivine, orthoclase, plagioclase 5. Why is mineral identification one of the most fundamental tasks in geology? Necessary to classify rocks 6. What is halite? A mineral containing sodium and chlorine that forms when water evaporates. Table salt 7. What happens when you drop acid on a carbonate mineral (or rock)? Material fizz and will dissolve, releasing CO2 8. What is the composition of diamonds and graphite? Why are they showing very different physical properties? Carbon. The atomic bonds are very different craating different crystal structures. Graphite forms near the earth’s surface, whereas diamond forms deep within the interior (in the mantle) 9. What are ore deposits? Rocks containing economically viable concentrations of minerals 10. Which mineral group is the most abundant? For what purpose are they used? Silicates. Construction materials & computers (silicon)...