Exam 3: Minerals: The Building Blocks of Rocks

Not all rigid substances are crystalline solids; natural and manufactured glass lack the ordered arrangement of atoms and are said to be ____________________, meaning "without form."

In different specimens of the same mineral, the interfacial angles between crystal faces are ____.

____ has a distinctive soap feel, ____ writes on paper, and ____ tastes salty.

The two factors which determine whether or not an element can substitute for another element in the composition of a mineral are the ____________________ and ____________________ of the atoms.

Animal matter and vegetable matter can sometimes be minerals.

A positively charged atom of an element is called a(n)____.

List the four types of matter. Then define the term mineral. How do minerals differ from other forms of matter?

An example of a precious metal is ____.

All carbon atoms have six (6)protons but the number of neutrons can be six (6), seven (7), or eight (8). Different neutron numbers ____.

Mica and clay minerals have a platy crystal form because they have a sheet-like structure of silica tetrahedra.

The two major mineral groups recognized by geologists are ____________________ and ____________________.

Minerals are ____.

The basic building block of all silicate minerals is the silica ____.

A mineral's resistance to abrasion is called ____.

All minerals are compounds.

Any aspect of geology concerned with the search for minerals and rocks of economic value is called ____ geology.

Most sand on beaches, in desert dunes, and in stream and river channels is made up of ____.

An atom of sodium (Na)has a single electron in its outer shell and an atom of chlorine (Cl)has seven (7)electrons in its outer shell. What happens when these two elements bond?

Rocks are always composed of more than one type of mineral.

A resource is a naturally occurring concentration of solid, liquid, or gaseous material in or on Earth's crust in such a form and amount that economic extraction of a commodity is ____.