Answers to Review Questions

1. What is a mineral, as geologists understand the term? How is this definition different
from the everyday usage of the word?
ANS: A mineral is a naturally occurring solid, formed by geologic processes, that has a
crystalline structure and a definable chemical composition.
2. Why is glass not a mineral?
ANS: Glass is atomically disordered, having no fixed crystalline arrangement. Because
there is no fixed spatial arrangement for the atoms within glass, glass fails the
crystalline structure requirement in the definition of a mineral.
3. Salt is a mineral, but the plastic of an inexpensive pen is not. Why not?
ANS: The plastic is not a mineral because it lacks crystal structure and does not occur
naturally.
4. Describe several ways in which mineral crystals can form.
ANS: Crystals can solidify from a melt, freezing from hot liquid rock in the formation
of igneous rock. Crystals can also form through solid- state diffusion, in which new
crystals are formed from the atoms that were present in a preexisting mineral.
Movement of atoms or ions to form the new structure can be driven by heat and
pressure; thus, solid- state diffusion is associated with metamorphic rock formation.
Mineral crystals can form through precipitation out of water or out of a gas. Precipitation
of crystals might be due to inorganic physical pro cesses, but might also result from the
metabolic activities of organisms.
5. Why do some minerals occur as euhedral crystals, whereas others occur as anhedral
grains?
ANS: Euhedral crystals (those with clearly defined faces and edges) develop when
crystal growth occurs in unoccupied space; crystal geometry is determined by the
internal lattice structure of the elements making up the mineral. More commonly in
igneous rocks, numerous crystals form more or less simultaneously in a tightly packed
space. In this case, the competing crystals intertwine as they crystallize, forming
irregular boundaries. Such crystals lack the clearly defined faces of exemplary euhedral
crystals and are termed anhedral grains (their irregular shapes are reminiscent of those
of weathered grains of sediment).
6. List and define the principal physical properties used to identify a mineral. Which
minerals react with acid to produce CO2?
ANS: Hardness (resistance to scratching), cleavage (tendency of crystals to break
along planes of weakness), color (self- explanatory), luster (qualitative assessment of
the way in which the mineral reflects light), crystal form or habit (the shape of visible
crystals or crystal aggregates), streak (the color of the mineral in powdered form), and
specific gravity (mass per unit volume of the mineral). Carbonates react with weak acids
and liberate carbon dioxide gas (CO2).

7. How can you determine the hardness of a mineral? What is the Mohs hardness
scale?
ANS: Mineral hardness is determined through scratch tests. A relatively hard mineral is
able to scratch a softer mineral, but the converse statement is not true. The Mohs scale
for hardness is an ordinal scale of scratch resistance, with rankings from 1 (talc) at the
soft end of the scale to 10 (diamond) at the hard end.
8. How do you distinguish cleavage surfaces from crystal faces on a mineral? How does
each type of surface form?
ANS: Cleavage planes occur in parallel sets; crystal faces are solitary, occurring only at
the surface of the crystal. Cleavage surfaces arise due to planes of weak bonding within
the crystal and can be seen because of crystal breakage (or near breakage). Crystal
faces are formed by the growth of the crystal.
9. What is the prime characteristic that geologists use to separate minerals into
classes?
ANS: Minerals are divided on the basis of chemical composition (more precisely the
anion[s] present in the mineral).
10. What is a silicon- oxygen tetrahedron? What is the anionic group that occurs in
carbonate minerals?
ANS: A silicon- oxygen tetrahedron is an arrangement of four oxygens around a silicon
atom with a regular tetrahedral shape; it is the anionic group found in all silicate
minerals. Carbonates all contain CO32.
11. On what basis do mineralogists organize silicate minerals into distinct groups?
ANS: Silicates are subdivided into distinct groups on the basis of the amount of oxygen
sharing between neighboring silica tetrahedra.
12. What is the relationship between the way in which silicon- oxygen tetrahedra bond
in micas and the characteristic cleavage of micas?
ANS: In micas, each silicon- oxygen tetrahedron shares three oxygen atoms with
adjacent, coplanar tetrahedra. The shared silicon- oxygen bonds within these planes
are very strong, but bonds perpendicular to sheets are much weaker. Cleavage in micas
thus occurs along planes with a single orientation, parallel to the sheets.
13. Why are some minerals considered gemstones? How do you make the facets on a
gem?
ANS: Gemstones are minerals that are valued for their aesthetic beauty. Facets on
gems are cut by a faceting machine and do not usually represent original crystal faces
or cleavage planes.

On Further Thought
14. Compare the chemical formula of magnetite with that of biotite. Considering that iron
is a relatively heavy element, which mineral has the greater specific gravity?
ANS: Both contain iron and oxygen, but biotite also contains a variety of other
elements, including silicon, magnesium, and hydrogen. Iron is a far more abundant
component of magnetite than it is of biotite and has greater specific gravity.
15. Imagine that you are given two milky white crystals, each about 2 cm across. You
are told that one of the crystals is composed of plagioclase and the other of quartz. How
can you determine which is which?
ANS: The quickest and easiest way (at least for introductory students who often have
difficulty assessing cleavage) is a hardness test; quartz will scratch plagioclase, but the
converse is not true. Quartz also lacks cleavage, whereas feldspars like plagioclase
possess two cleavage directions. Plagioclase typically exhibits striations that can be
seen when the specimen is rotated in light.
16. Could you use crushed calcite to grind facets on a diamond? Why or why not?
ANS: You could not; diamond is much harder than calcite, and the result of such efforts
would be to powder the calcite.