physical science chapter 2

• characteristics: -Naturally occurring
• - solid substance
• - orderly crystalline structure
• - well-defined chemical composition
• -generally inorganic

formed by natural geologic processes. Not synthetic

minerals need to be solid within temperature ranges normally experienced at earths surfaces.

means their atoms are arranged in a orderly repetitive manner.

means that chemical composition of a mineral may vary, but has to be wihin a certain limit or well defined limit.

inorganic crystalline solids, such as table salt is found naturally on ground.

are electrons located on the outermost shell. Interact with other atoms to form chemical bonds

number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, it determines its chemical nature

variety of elements joined together to form something

Atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons until they are surrounded by 8 valence electrons

is the transfer or sharing of electrons that allows atoms to attain a full valence shell of electrons.

three types: Ionic, covalent, hydro

is when valence electrons are transferred between the elements to form ions

is when electrons SHARE between the atoms

Positive ions: Cations

Negative Ions: Anions

• Atoms that lose electrons are Cations
• Atoms that gain electrons are Anions

oppositely charges ions are strongly attracted to one another.

is total number of protons and neutrons in a atom

are atoms with same protons but different amount of neutrons

carbon 12, carbon 13, carbon 14

Luster, the ability to trasnmit light, color, and streak are most frequnetly used for mineral ID

appearance or quality of light refelcted from the surface of a mineral

Metallic or nonmetallic

Opaque: no light is permitted

Translucent: light but no image

Transparent: both light and image are permitted

it can be misleading in identifying minerals. There are numerous of rocks that have different colors.

is when a rock or mineral is rubbed on a streak plate, leaving color powdered mineral behind.

helps distinguish between metallic luster or nonmetallic luster

describes mienrals toughness, or its resistance to breaking or deforming.

measure of the resistance of a mineral to abrasion or scratching.

10 objects. diamond is the hardest.

tendency of a mineral to break along planes of weak bonding

not all minerals have cleavage

when some minerals fracture they create uneven surfaces or smoothed curves.

it is unitless representing the ratio of a mineral weight to the weight of an equal volume of water