NGSS Practice

The data table gives information on mineral hardness. Moh's scale would be most useful for

• identifying a mineral sample

• finding the mass of a mineral sample

• finding the density of a mineral sample

• counting the number of cleavage surfaces ofa mineral sample

The physical properties of a mineral are largely caused by its

• volume

• melting point

• organic composition

• internal arrangement of atoms

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-1

A student crushes a small sample of mineral to see the color of its powder. The student is to determine the mineral's

• density

• luster

• chemical composition

• streak

To identify a mineral sample embedded in a piece of plastic, which of the following physical properties could not be used?

• crystal shape

• hardness

• color

• luster

The diagrams represent samples of five different minerals found in the rocks of the Earth's crust. Which physical property of minerals is represented by the flat surfaces in the diagrams?

• magnetism

• hardness

• cleavage

• crustal size

The relative hardness of a mineral can best be tested by

• scratching the mineral across a glass plate

• squeezing the mineral with calibrated pliers

• determining the density of the mineral

• breaking the mineral with a hammer

Quartz mineral samples are best identified by their

• hardness

• color

• size

• mass

What causes the characteristic crystal shape and cleavage of the mineral halite as shown in the diagram?

• metamorphism of the halite

• the internal arrangement of the atoms in halite

• the amount of erosion the halite has undergone

• the shape of other minerals located where the halite formed

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-1

When dilute hydrochloric acid is placed on the sedimentary rock limestone and the non sedimentary rock marble, a bubbling reaction occurs with both. What would this indicate?

• The minerals of these two rocks have similar chemical composition

• The molecular structures of these two rocks have been changed by heat and pressure

• The physical properties of these two rocks are identical

• The two rocks originated at the same location.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-2

Why do diamond and graphite have different physical properties, even though they are both composed entirely of the element carbon?

• Only diamond contains radioactive carbon.

• Only graphite consists of organic material.

• The minerals have different arrangements of carbon atoms.

• The minerals have undergone different amounts of weathering.

Tags

NGSS.MS-PS1-1