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Galena - cause of the hardness of only 2.5

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How do you get the specific gravity of a mineral?

Fill a beaker with water, and weigh it. Weigh a sample of the mineral. That's the mass of the mineral. Put the sample in the beaker and weigh that. The weight of the water-filled beaker plus the weight of the mineral sample will be greater than the weight of the beaker with mineral sample and water. The difference is the weight of the displaced water, in grams. The volume of the mineral sample, in cubic centimeters is equal to the weight of the displaced water, in grams. Calculate the specific gravity of the mineral by dividing the weight of the mineral sample by the volume of the mineral sample. Example: your beaker weighs 40 grams. Filled with water, it's 1040 grams. The sample of mineral weighs 160 grams. The beaker with the sample of mineral and water weighs 1179.7 grams. The mineral, and the beaker with water would have a combined weight of 1200 grams, but the beaker with mineral and water weighs 20.3 grams less than that, so the mineral sample is displacing 20.3 cubic centimeters of water. Given a mass of 160 grams and a volume of 2.03 CC, the specific gravity would be found by dividing 160 by 20.3. It's 7.85. (Which happens to be the specific gravity of some iron.)


Describe what would happen if you rubbed a mineral with a mohs hardness value of 7 against a mineral with a value of 5?

The mineral with a Mohs hardness value of 7 (such as quartz) would scratch the mineral with a value of 5 (such as apatite). This is because a mineral can scratch any other mineral with a lower Mohs hardness value.


If three rocks have the same mass will the weathering rate be the same?

Not necessarily. Weathering rates would depend on the rock type, mineral composition, and density. These factors will determine a rock's resistance to acidic rainwater, freeze/thaw cycles, and abrasion.


Which mineral would be weathered the after being placed in a rock tumbler for fifteen minutes?

A soft mineral like calcite or gypsum is more likely to be weathered after being placed in a rock tumbler for fifteen minutes due to its lower hardness compared to harder minerals like quartz or diamond. The constant tumbling action can cause abrasion and wear down softer minerals more quickly.


Under what conditions would you expect abrasion to cause the most erosion of a riverbed?

Abrasion would cause the most erosion of a riverbed when there is a high concentration of sediment being transported by the river, when the sediment particles are angular and hard, and when the flow velocity of the river is strong and turbulent.

Related Questions

How do you calculate mineral contents of the sample?

We would need to know what sample you are referring to in order to answer this question.


How do you get the specific gravity of a mineral?

Fill a beaker with water, and weigh it. Weigh a sample of the mineral. That's the mass of the mineral. Put the sample in the beaker and weigh that. The weight of the water-filled beaker plus the weight of the mineral sample will be greater than the weight of the beaker with mineral sample and water. The difference is the weight of the displaced water, in grams. The volume of the mineral sample, in cubic centimeters is equal to the weight of the displaced water, in grams. Calculate the specific gravity of the mineral by dividing the weight of the mineral sample by the volume of the mineral sample. Example: your beaker weighs 40 grams. Filled with water, it's 1040 grams. The sample of mineral weighs 160 grams. The beaker with the sample of mineral and water weighs 1179.7 grams. The mineral, and the beaker with water would have a combined weight of 1200 grams, but the beaker with mineral and water weighs 20.3 grams less than that, so the mineral sample is displacing 20.3 cubic centimeters of water. Given a mass of 160 grams and a volume of 2.03 CC, the specific gravity would be found by dividing 160 by 20.3. It's 7.85. (Which happens to be the specific gravity of some iron.)


What mineral would wear out the fastest?

Talc would wear out the fastest due to its softness, which makes it more prone to abrasion and scratching compared to harder minerals.


What equation would you use to express the density of a mineral sample?

density = mass / volume


What would you observe in a streak test?

In a streak test, you would observe the color of the powdered mineral after it has been scraped against a porcelain plate. The color of the streak left behind can sometimes be different from the color of the mineral itself, which can be helpful in identifying the mineral.


Distinguish between a gross sample and a laboratory sample?

In geology say, a gross sample would be a representative sample of the whole rock. A lab sample would be a fraction of that, refined such that measurements are able to be made on a single mineral. for example, a piece of basalt would be a convenient field (gross) sample, from which say, mica is extracted after grinding and separation, to enable the 'date' of the basalt to be determined. Similar concepts would apply in other fields, such as biology, botany, water sampling and so on.


What is the hardness of anthracite coal?

Because it is a rock, not a mineral, the Mohs value will vary significantly from sample to sample. An average range would be between 3.0 and 3.8.


Describe what would happen if you rubbed a mineral with a mohs hardness value of 7 against a mineral with a value of 5?

The mineral with a Mohs hardness value of 7 (such as quartz) would scratch the mineral with a value of 5 (such as apatite). This is because a mineral can scratch any other mineral with a lower Mohs hardness value.


Would abrasion be easily infected?

yes


Which information would probably be most helpful to someone trying to identify a mineral sample?

Many igneous rocks can be identified by the position of their minerals.


How you would determine the hardness of an unidentified mineral sample?

The only way is through experimentation. You need to take a number of other minerals whose Mohs scale value you know (Mohs scale is the measure of hardness of a mineral with diamond being the hardest and talc being the least hard). Take your unknown sample and attempt to scratch it with all your control samples. If the known mineral can scratch your sample then it is harder, if it can't - but can be scratched by your sample - then it is lower on the scale. Eventually you will work your way to a point where you can say that your sample is harder than x but not as hard as y. Knowing the values of x and y on the Mohs scale will enable you to approximate a value for your unknown substance.


What is called the hardest rock?

The hardest substance in a rock would be the hardest mineral of which the rock is composed.