Science: Minerals
Terms
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- solution
- is a mixture in which one substance is dissolved in another
- fracture
- desribes how a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way
- naturally occuring
- a substance that must be formed by processed in the natural world
- mining
- process of removing ore from the ground
- metals
- are not as hard as gemstones
- gemstones
- is a hard, colorful mineral that has a brillian or glassy luster
- strip
- earth moving material that scraps away soil
- open pit
- uses giant earth moving equipment
- crystal
- repeating pattern of a minerals particles(solid w/ flat sides that meet at sharp edges and corners)
- quartz
- (sand) used in makin glass as well as in electronic equipment
- color
- used to identify only those few minerals that always have their own characteristic color
- magma
- is molten material from inside Earth that hardens to form a rock
- slow cooling
- leads to the formation of large crystals
- geologists
- makes maps for prospectors
- gem
- gemstone that is cut and polished
- definite chemcial composition
- that a mineral always contains certain elements in definite proportions
- inorganic
- the mineral cant form from materials that were once part of a living thing
- prospecting
- searching for ore
- gypsum
- a soft white mineral, used to make wallboard, cement, and stucco
- fast cooling
- no time for large crystals to form, so smaller crystals are formed
- how minerals are formed
- by evaporation, or hot water solutions
- smelting
- mixing ore w/ other substances and then melted to seperate the useful metal from other elements that ore contains
- hardness
- how hard or soft a mineral is
- ductile
- bendable
- mineral
- is a naturally occuring, organic solid that has a cyrstal structure and a definite chemical compostion
- solid
- definite volume and shape
- vein
- is a narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different from the surrounding rock
- ore
- a rock containing metal or other useful metals
- calcite
- used in optional instruments such as microscopes
- density
- is the mass in a given space or mass per unit volume
- Mohs Hardness scale
- this scale ranks ten minerals from softest to hardest
- prospector
- someone who searches for ore
- cleavage
- a mineral that splits easily along flat surfaces
- shaft
- network of tunnels
- Crystallization
- is the process by which atoms are arranged to form a mineral w/ a crystal structure
- geode
- is a rounded, hollow rock that is often lined w/ mineral crystals
- luster
- used to describe how light is reflected from a minerals surface
- cleavage and fracture
- describe the way the minerals look when they split or break apart
- lava
- is magma that reaches the surface- forms rocks when it cools and hardens
- six groups of crystal systems
- cubic, hexagonal, tetragonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, triclinic
- streak
- is a color of its powder
- crystal systems
- groups that crystals are put in based on the number and angle of the crystal faces
- alloy
- solid mixture of 2 or more elements