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Skills Worksheet

Directed Reading Section: Identifying Minerals _____ 1. Mineralogists are scientists who a. study the weather. b. examine, analyze, and classify the weather. c. examine, analyze, and classify minerals. d. examine, analyze, and classify animals. _____ 2. Mineralogists identify minerals by a. using special equipment. b. finding similar minerals in books. c. studying properties of the weather. d. studying the properties of minerals. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

_____ 3. Each mineral has specific properties that are a result of a. scientific theory. b. crystals in its chemicals. c. chemical composition and crystalline structure. d. specialized equipment. _____ 4. What is one property of a mineral that is easy to observe? a. magnetism c. weight b. size d. color _____ 5. Color alone is generally a. a reliable clue for identifying a mineral sample. b. not a reliable clue for identifying a mineral sample. c. the best way of identifying a mineral sample. d. not a clue for identifying a mineral sample. _____ 6. What is true of mineral color? a. It takes large amounts of certain elements to affect color. b. Very small amounts of certain elements may greatly affect color. c. Many minerals are dissimilar in color. d. All minerals are similar in color. _____ 7. What is corundum? a. yellow pyrite with traces of fool’s gold b. a bluish mineral composed of aluminum and carbon atoms c. a colorless mineral composed of aluminum and oxygen atoms d. amethyst with traces of chromium Original content Copyright © Holt McDougal. All rights reserved. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.

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Directed Reading continued

_____ 8. What is corundum with traces of chromium, Cr? a. a red gem called diamond b. a red gem called sapphire c. a red gem called ruby d. a red gem called garnet _____ 9. What causes the purple color of amethyst? a. carbon, C, and iron, Fe b. manganese, Mn, and corundum c. quartz and crystal d. manganese, Mn, and iron, Fe _____ 10. What is another reason that color is unreliable in identifying minerals? a. Color is not a significant property of minerals. b. Most minerals are basically the same color. c. Weathered surfaces may hide the color of minerals. d. Minerals and elements are basically the same color. _____ 11. What is streak? a. the shape of the mineral crystal when frozen b. the color of the mineral in powdered form c. the surface color observed when the mineral is cleaved d. the color of the mineral in large crystals _____ 12. The easiest way to observe the streak of a mineral is to a. rub some of the mineral against a streak plate. b. rub two pieces of the mineral together. c. rub the mineral on paper. d. use rubbing compound to make it shine. _____ 13. What is true of the streak’s color? a. It is almost always the same as the mineral in solid form. b. It may differ from the color of the mineral in solid form. c. It may differ from the color of the mineral in liquid form. d. It is never accurate, but scientists still use it. _____ 14. What kind of streak do metallic minerals generally have? a. silver b. neutral or no streak c. dark d. very light 15. Describe the streak of most nonmetallic minerals. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Original content Copyright © Holt McDougal. All rights reserved. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.

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Directed Reading continued

16. What is luster? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 17. What is metallic luster? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ In the space provided, write the letter of the description that best matches the term or phrase.

_____ 18. glassy luster _____ 19. waxy luster _____ 20. pearly luster _____ 21. brilliant luster _____ 22. dull or earthy luster

a. diamond, for example b. mineral that lacks any shiny appearance c. transparent quartz and other minerals that look like glass d. minerals such as mica e. minerals that have the appearance of candle wax

23. What is cleavage? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 24. Where does a mineral break when it has cleavage? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 25. What is fracture in minerals? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 26. How do mineralogists describe a fracture? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

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Directed Reading continued

27. What is hardness in mineralogy? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 28. Describe an example of how hardness does NOT mean “resistance to cleavage or fracture.” _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 29. What is the Mohs hardness scale? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 30. How do mineralogists test the hardness of an unknown mineral? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 31. What are the softest and hardest minerals on the Mohs hardness scale? _______________________________________________________________ 32. How would you use the Mohs hardness scale to test an unknown mineral? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 33. What does a diamond’s hardness result from? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 34. Why does a mineral always have the same basic crystal system? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Original content Copyright © Holt McDougal. All rights reserved. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.

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Directed Reading continued

35. What is the basic crystal system where three axes of equal length intersect at 90° angles? _______________________________________________________________ 36. What is a tetragonal crystal system? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 37. What is the basic crystal system where two of the three axes of unequal length intersect at 90° angles, and the third axis is oblique to the others? _______________________________________________________________ 38. What is an orthorhombic crystal system? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 39. What is the basic crystal system where three horizontal axes of the same length intersect at 120° angles, and the vertical axis is longer or shorter than the horizontal axes? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 40. What is a triclinic crystal system? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 41. What can cause the six basic crystal shapes to become more complex? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 42. How would a piece of galena feel compared with a piece of quartz of the same size? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 43. Define density. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Original content Copyright © Holt McDougal. All rights reserved. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.

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Directed Reading continued

44. On what does the density of a mineral depend? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 45. What are the densities of most of the common minerals in Earth’s crust? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ SPECIAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

_____ 46. What color is calcite in ordinary light? a. white b. red c. blue d. violet _____ 47. What color does calcite appear to be in ultraviolet light? a. white b. red c. blue d. violet _____ 48. Minerals with the property of fluorescence a. absorb ultraviolet light and then produce invisible light of a single color. b. reflect ultraviolet light and then produce visible light of various colors. c. reflect ultraviolet light and then produce invisible light of various colors. d. absorb ultraviolet light and then produce visible light of various colors. _____ 49. Phosphorescence is the property that causes a mineral to a. turn colors after ultraviolet light is turned on. b. bubble when it is converted to liquid form. c. grow after ultraviolet light is turned on. d. glow after ultraviolet light is turned off. _____ 50. Phosphorescence is useful in mining a. lithium, an ore of eucryptite. b. eucryptite, an ore of lithium. c. eucharite, an ore of mythium. d. kryptonite, an ore of lithium.

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Directed Reading continued

_____ 51. Chatoyancy is the a. silky appearance some minerals display in ultraviolet light. b. silky appearance some minerals display in reflected light. c. soft appearance some minerals display in phosphorescent light. d. foggy appearance some minerals display in deflected light. _____ 52. What is chatoyancy also called? a. cat-and-mouse effect b. catnip effect c. cat’s-cradle effect d. cat’s-eye effect _____ 53. What causes chatoyancy? a. loosely packed perpendicular fibers within a mineral b. closely packed perpendicular fibers within a mineral c. loosely packed parallel fibers within a mineral d. closely packed parallel fibers within a mineral _____ 54. What is asterism? a. a phenomenon in which a six-sided star shape appears when a mineral reflects light b. a phenomenon in which a five-sided star shape appears when a mineral absorbs light c. a phenomenon in which a four-sided shape appears when a mineral reflects light d. a phenomenon in which a square appears in a mineral _____ 55. What happens to light rays as they pass through transparent minerals? a. They straighten out. b. They bend. c. They are absorbed. d. They are reflected. _____ 56. What is refraction? a. the absorption of light rays as they pass from a substance, such as air, to another substance, such as a mineral b. the disappearance of light rays as they pass from a substance, such as air, to another substance, such as a mineral c. the bending of light rays as they pass from a substance, such as air, to another substance, such as a mineral d. the straightening of light rays as they pass from a substance, such as rock, to another substance, such as a soil 57. Describe the property called double refraction. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ Original content Copyright © Holt McDougal. All rights reserved. Additions and changes to the original content are the responsibility of the instructor.

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Directed Reading continued

58. What causes double refraction to occur? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 59. Magnets may attract small particles of some minerals that contain which element? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 60. What do both bar magnets and some pieces of lodestone have? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 61. From what conditions does radioactivity result? _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 62. List two radioactive elements. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ 63. What is the most common mineral that contains uranium? _______________________________________________________________ 64. List two other uranium-bearing minerals. _______________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________

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