Question 1 Color is usually a poor indicator of a mineral's name

Question

Question 1

Color is usually a poor indicator of a mineral's name. However, there are exceptions. Which of the following minerals has a characteristic color?


Answers:	Calcite
	Halite
	Sulfur
	Quartz

Question 2

Manufacturers of synthetic gemstone are required to do something to their product that helps a gemologist distinguish artificial gems from the real ones. What do they do?


Answers:	As the crystal is growing quick changes in temperature produce a change is crystal orientation. These can be seen through a microscope as evenly spaced zones.
	Provide each stone that is sold with a certificate of synthetication.
	The manufacturing process introduces an impurity that can be identified as a bright fluorescent color when exposed to ultra violet radiation.
	Each synthetic stone, after being faceted, is identified by a laser engraved mark.

Question 3

According to the definition of "mineral" which of the following would exclude a substance from being considered a mineral?


Answers:	It only occurs in one place on the planet.
	It contains only one element.
	It was produced by organic processes.
	Its composition includes carbon.

Question 4

How can sea shells be considered minerals?


Answers:	In the formula (CaCO3) for calcite (which makes up the sea shells) the C in the CO3 is not considered organic.
	The material of a sea shell is crystalline, has a definite chemical composition and is naturally occurring. It should be considered a mineral.
	The basic concept of sea shells being minerals has been adopted by the scientific community.
	An improved definition of mineral was adopted that allowed for organic substances to recrystallize to form minerals.

Question 5

How do elements combine to form minerals?


Answers:	clouds of electrons that bind atoms together.
	The weak nuclear force.
	magnetic forces that are very strong over short distances, like the distances between atoms.
	various types of electrical bonds, like ionic and covalent.

Question 6

When testing a mineral for hardness, why is glass a good place to start the testing process?


Answers:	Glass is fairly soft and will normally not damage the mineral being tested.
	Because clear glass is used in the testing process, a test for hardness can be made on one side of the glass while the observations can be made safely on the other side.
	The hardness of normal glass is about 5.5. That conveniently puts it at about the center of the hardness table. And glass is a fairly common material.
	Actually, it has a fairly restricted use. It is used to determine if a mineral is a diamond or not. Diamonds will easily scratch glass.

Question 7

A student is testing a mineral for hardness. Pressure is applied by the student as the mineral is drawn across the glass plate. The student observes a powder streak on the glass. Which assumption is correct?


Answers:	An assumption of hardness can not yet be made. The powder must be removed to see if a scratch is present in the glass.
	The mineral and the glass have the same hardness.
	The mineral is softer than the glass. The mineral crumbled as it was drawn across the glass plate
	The mineral is harder than the glass because it scratched the glass.

Question 8

Based on physical properties, what is a good way to distinguish between massive white quartz and white calcite?


Answers:	The quartz will be stained brown by iron while the calcite will not.
	The quartz will be vitreous while the calcite will have more of a metallic luster.
	Upon breaking the specimens the white quartz will have an irregular or conchoidal fracture while the calcite will display cleavage in 3 directions.
	It is not possible to distinguish between the two in the field. Lab tests using acid must be used.

Question 9

What would a GLG 103 student use Moh's Scale for on a mineral identification test?


Answers:	To determine the hardness of a mineral.
	To determine the luster of a mineral.
	To evaluate the composition of the mineral.
	To establish the mineral's density.

Question 10

A crystal is struck with a hammer and breaks producing smooth flat surfaces. One of these fragments is then hit again and it produces smaller pieces with smooth flat surfaces. This physical property is called


Answers:	Fracture
	Cleavage
	Fissility
	Atomic Gliding

Question 11

What determines whether or not a mineral will have cleavage?


Answers:	The perforations represent impurities that are incorporated into the crystal during growth.
	To have cleavage a mineral must have weak atomic bonds that separate easily.
	Minerals often have impurities. If the impurities are lined up along previous growth faces, it will result in cleavage.
	The mineral must consist of a group of tightly bound crystals that were forced together by high pressures.

Question 12

Tell your friends the next time you sprinkle salt on your french fries, that what you are applying to the culinary delight, geologically is

Answers:

These grains of salt are covalently bonded sodium and chlorine atom, which, if in their elemental form, would be quite poisonous. But as salt I find they are very useful on popcorn.

tiny cleavage fragment of the mineral Halite to enhance the flavor.

Question 13

Halite has cleavage in 3 directions. How is that cleavage described?


Answers:	3 very good directions
	1 perfect direction and 2 that are fair
	2 good directions and 1 very good
	3 poor directions

Question 14

You have just broken a single large crystal to observe the way it breaks. Turning the broken fragment in a light you see a flash of reflected light from one of the surfaces . The correct conclusion is that


Answers:	The crystal was probably a gemstone and the flash of light is the "fire" produced by internal reflections.
	The specimen is displaying conchoidal fracture.
	This is a physical property called iridescence.
	The flash of light is being produced by many parallel cleavage faces.

Question 15

Why does the mineral talc feel soapy when rubbed?


Answers:	It is so tightly bound that it does not produce friction when it comes in contact with skin.
	It consists of the same compounds that is found in natural soap.
	It cleaves very easily just by rubbing it in your hands.
	All minerals with a hardness of one will feel greasy or like soap, just because they are so soft.

Question 16

Obsidian is not a mineral, it is an igneous rock. So why was it used in the "Physical Properties of Minerals" PowerPoint?


Answers:	Basically, it shows conchoidal fracture very nicely. Obsidian is an natural, volcanic glass. Glass has no zone of weakness or strength, it is amorphous. When broken it produces fractures that follow the shock waves passing through the rock.
	Minerals do not show conchoidal fractures when broken.
	Being black it lends itself better to photography.
	Obsidian is very abundant and very cheap. It is much less expensive to break obsidian than minerals.

Question 17

You have been out hiking around on Four Peaks (east of Phoenix) and have found a clear purple crystal that looks like grape jelly. Four Peaks is known for its gem quality amethyst (Quartz), But it could be the mineral fluorite which also forms crystals. Which method could you use in the field to distinguish between the two?


Answers:	You have to break the mineral. If it is quartz, the faces would not repeat themselves. If it was fluorite the flat surfaces will repeat (you will have more flat surfaces on the smaller fragments).
	Take a close look, crystal faces are more perfect on quartz than on fluorite.
	Quartz crystals form cubes and fluorite crystals form with six sides.
	You can not.

Question 18

The mineral Halite has a white streak. Streak plates are white. How can you determine the color of the halite streak?


Answers:	You must produce enough of the powder to collect and dissolve the powder in acid. Then you must neutralize the acid. Next you dry the solution to produce crystals. Then observe the color of the crystals.
	Microscopes are provided for such minerals.
	The easiest way would be to rub your finger across the streak plate. Getting some of the powdered mineral on your finger you can see the color easier.
	If you can not see it on the white streak plate the color of the streak is white be default.

Question 19

Minerals that have a metallic luster


Answers:	all have cleavage.
	are all very dense.
	look like metals.
	are strongly bonded.

Question 20

Another term for vitreous luster is


Answers:	waxy
	clear
	glassy
	silky

Question 21

Which mineral (shown in the lab) marks paper very easily?


Answers:	Silver
	Graphite
	Lead
	Coal

Question 22

A mineral's specific gravity (density) is to be determined. Its weight in air is 200 grams. Its weight in water is 150 grams. What is its specific gravity?


Answers:	1.75
	4
	1.33
	0.75

Question 23

You attempting a specific gravity measurement on a crystal of HALITE. But every time a measurement is made the answer is different. The reason is


Answers:	the halite dissolves in water.
	the halite has too many pore spaces. Some of the fill up with water.
	the balance machine is defective.
	the halite is hygroscopic - it absorbs water.

Question 24

After returning from a gold panning trip to Little San Domingo Wash, Arizona, you want to separate the black sand from the gold. An easy way to do this is to


Answers:	dissolve the gold in cyanide.
	pull out the black sand with a magnet.
	dissolve the black sand in hydrofluoric acid.
	trap the gold with a layer of mercury and then bake off the mercury in a hollowed out potato.