ESC 1000: Earth
Science 11th and 13th Edition Vocabulary
Chapter 2: Minerals: Building Blocks of
Rocks
1. Atom-
The smallest particle that exists as an element.
2. Atomic
Number- The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom.
3. Carbonates-
nonsilicate minerals which do not contain Silicon
atoms and are made up of positive metallic ions and the negative ion composed
of one carbon and three oxygen atoms.
4. Cleavage-
The tendency of a mineral to break along planes of weak bonding when stressed.
5. Chemical Bond – A
strong attractive force that exists between atoms in a substance. It involves
the transfer or sharing of electrons that allows each atom to attain a full
valence shell.
6. Color -
An optical property used for identification of a
mineral which is the most conspicuous characteristic of any mineral, except
this diagnostic property has only a few minerals.
7. Compound-
A substance formed by the chemical combination of two or more elements in
definite proportions and usually having properties different from those of its
constituent elements
8. Covalent
bond- the chemical bond produced by sharing of electron pairs.
9. Crystal
form- The external appearance of a mineral as determined by its internal
arrangement of atoms
10. Density
– Important property of matter defined as mass per unit volume.
11. Electron-
A negatively charged subatomic particle that has a negligible mass and is found
outside an atom’s nucleus
12. Energy
levels- Spherically shaped negatively charged zones that surround the
nucleus and an atom
13. Element-
A substance that cannot be decomposed into simpler substances by ordinary
chemical or physical means
14. Feldspar-
The most plentiful group of silicate minerals,
comprising over 50 percent of Earth’s crust.
15. Fracture-
One of four properties used to describe a mineral’s strength which is the
property of a mineral that possess chemical bonds that are equally, strong in
all directions. They have three categories: irregular, conchoidal,
and splintery & fibrous.
16. Habit
– term used by mineralogists which refer to the common
or characteristic shape of a crystal or aggregate of crystals.
17. Hardness-
One of four properties used to describe a mineral’s strength. It is the
resistance of a mineral to abrasion or scratching
18. Ionic bond-
A chemical bond between two oppositely charged ions formed by the transfer of
valence electrons form one atom to the other.
19. Ions-
An atom or molecule that possesses an electrical charge (total protons
≠total electrons)
20. Isotope-
Varieties of the same element that have different mass numbers; their nuclei
contain the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
21. Luster-
An optical property used for identification of a mineral which is the
appearance or quality of light reflected from the surface of a mineral
22. Mass
number- The number of neutrons and protons in the nucleus of an atom
23. Metallic
Bond – A chemical bond present in all metals that may be characterized
as an extreme type of electron sharing in which the electrons move freely from
one atom to another.
24. Mineral-
A naturally occurring, inorganic (ionic) crystalline material with a unique chemical
composition
25. Minerology – the study of minerals which are
the building blocks of rocks
26. Mineral
resource- All discovered and undiscovered deposits of a useful mineral
that can be extracted now or at sometime in the future.
27. Mohs hardness scale-
A series of 10 minerals used as a standard in determining hardness using a
numerical scale ranging from 1 (softest-talc) to 10 (hardest-diamond).
28. Neutron-
A subatomic particle found in the nucleus of an atom. The neutron is
electrically neutral and has a mass approximately that of a proton
29. Nonrenewable resource- resources that form or
accumulate over such long time spans that it must be considered as fixed in
total quantity.
30. Nonsilicates- Any one of numerous minerals that
have the oxygen and other elements excluding silicon and their basic
structure make up only 8% of the Earth’s crust. Some of these include
carbonates, halides, oxides, sulfides and pure non-silicon native elements.
31. Nucleus-
The small heavy core of an atom that contains all of its positive charge and
most of its mass
32. Octet Rule
– Atoms combine in order that each may have the electron arrangement of a noble
gas, that is the outer energy level contains eight electrons.
33. Opaque - An
optical property used for identification of a mineral which is the ability to
transmit NO light.
34.
35. Ore
deposit – A naturally occurring concentration of one or more metallic
minerals that can be extracted economically.
36. Periodic
table- The tabular arrangement of the elements according to atomic
number
37. Principal
shell- the outer most energy level which contains the valence electrons
38. Proton-
A positively charged subatomic particle found in the nucleus of an atom
39. Quartz-
The second most plentiful group of silicate materials, in the Earth’s
continental crust..
40. Radioactive
decay- Isotopes
of some atoms which have unstable nuclei undergo a spontaneous change in its
nuclei because the forces which bind together these nuclei are not strong
enough to hold them together.
41. Renewable
resource-
a resource that is virtually inexhaustible or that can be replenished over
relatively short time spans.
42. Reserve-
Already identified deposits form which mineral can be extracted profitably
43. Rock-
A consolidated mixture of minerals
44. Rock-forming
minerals- No more than a few dozen of the 4000 known minerals abundant
and makeup most of the rocks of the earth’s crust.
45. Silicate-
Any one of numerous minerals that have the oxygen and silicon tetrahedron as
their basic structure making up 92% of the Earth’s crust.
46. Silicon-oxygen
tetrahedron- A structure composed of four oxygen atoms surrounding a
silicon atom that constitutes the basic building block of silicate minerals
47. Specific
Gravity – the ratio of a substance’s weight to the weight of an equal
volume of water.
48. Streak-
An optical property used for identification of a mineral is the color of
powdered mineral. It is obtained by rubbing the mineral across a piece of
unglazed porcelain and observing the color of the mark it leaves.
49. Tenacity
– One of four properties used to describe a mineral’s strength. It is a measure
of a mineral’s toughness or resistance to breaking or deforming.
50. Translucent
- An optical property used for identification of a mineral which is the ability
to transmit light but no image.
51. Transparent
- An optical property used for identification of a mineral which is the ability
to transmit light and also an image.
52. Valence
electrons- The electrons involved in the bonding process; the electrons
occupying that highest –principal energy level of an atom