Geology:Lab 2-Minerals

what is luster?

Luster is the appearance of a minerals surface in reflected light

What is a mineral?

Mineral is a naturally occurring solid, formed by geological processes, that has formed a crystalline structure and deniable chemical composition

what is a crystalline structure?

a crystalline structure is the atomic structure of a mineral that is fixed in a certain pattern.

what is it called when where cleavage breaks

a fracture

what is a minerals streak.

a minerals streak is the powder color of a mineral

define celevage

a place in which a mineral breaks to form a distinct planar surface

an example of a luster adjectives if a nonmetallic mineral is dull and earthy

clay

what is crystal cleavage

cleavage is the the way in which crystal breaks

what does color result from in a mineral

color results from the interaction the mineral has with sun light

what are the two main properties that create shape in a crystal

crystal habit and cleavage

what is crystal habit a result of

crystal habit is a result of its specifically ordered arrangements of atoms, all minerals, when allowed unrestricted space in grow, will develop geometrically arranged sets of smooth planar faces.

what is a crystal habit

crystal habit is the shape that crystal grows

crystalline is is a material in which atoms are fixed in an orderly pattern, which mineralogist reefer to this pattern as a .....

crystal-lattice

a octahedron constitutes a crystal habit

eight-sided form with faces that are equilateral triangles

In terms of color what types of streaks do minerals make

either a distinct or white color or no color at all

an example of a luster adjectives if a nonmetallic mineral is vitreous

plastic or glass

an example of a luster adjectives if a nonmetallic mineral is silky

silk

a rhombohedron constitutes a crystal habit

six-sided form with faces in the shape of rhombus

which one has more variability in color the color of the mineral or the streak

streak

some minerals that have board line metallic trates are called

sub metallic

a cube constitutes a crystal habit

that is a six-sided form with a square face

what does cleavage tell us

the direction in which a mineral breaks tells us were it is weak

what are the face of crystals habits

the faces are characteristic for each mineral and constitutes its crystal habit

what is the hardness of a mineral determine

the hardness is a measurement of a minerals ability to resist scratching

what type of streak do minerals with metallic luster typically have

the type of minerals typically yield black or dark colored streaks

how are crystal habits named

they are named based on their geometric shape

what type of streaks do minerals with nonmetallic luster have

they have translucent or transparent and usually have colorless or light-colored streaks

when describing things using color. always remember what?

to describe it with the combination of something else

a dodecahedron constitutes a crystal habit

tweleve-sided form with diamond-shaped faces

a pyritohedron constitutes a crystal habit

twelve-sided form with faces having the shape of a pentago

what is the mores common category type do nonmetallic minerals have

vitreous or glassy

a mineral absorbs certain...., so the color you see when looking at a specimen represents the....the mineral does not absorbs

wavelengths

an example of a luster adjectives if a nonmetallic mineral is resinous

yellow resin or pitch

Is a minerals streak more reliable then crystals ?

yes, minerals powder tends to have less variables than the color of a who crystal thus it gives a fairly reliable clue to a mineral's identity

how can you determine the hardness of two minerals? The mineral that gets scratched is...

you can determine the hardness of two minerals by scratching them toghther and the one that gets scratched is softer

What two things do you need to know about the geology of an area?

1.) what minerals are present? 2.) How are those minerals organized in the rock?

a scalenohedron constitutes a crystal habit

form whose faces are in the shapes of scalene triangles

a prism constitutes a crystal habit

group of faces with three,four or six sides having parallel intersection

what is a crystalline solid?

is a material in which atoms are fixed in an orderly pattern

what type of physical properties do look at when we are studying minerals

luster,color, streak, hardness, geometric form,cleavage and other features

what type of luster are minerals that look like metals (opaque,shiny) have

metallic luster

an example of a luster adjectives if a nonmetallic mineral is pearly

mother of pearl

Minerals who don't have an opaque shinny look have what type of luster

nonmentallic

an example of a luster adjectives if a nonmetallic mineral is greasy

oily glass