What constitutes a mineral? (2.5)
What will be an ideal response?
Answer: Only naturally formed substances are minerals; manufactured materials, such as synthetic gemstones (e.g., cubic zirconia), are not.
A mineral must be a solid with an orderly arrangement of atoms; it cannot be a gas or liquid. Opal, a popular gemstone, consists of silicon and oxygen, the same elements that compose quartz. Opal, however, lacks a highly ordered atomic structure and is not considered a mineral.
Organic compounds, those defined as containing mostly carbon and hydrogen atoms, are not minerals. Table sugar (C12H22O11), therefore, is not a mineral, even though it is a naturally occurring solid with an orderly atomic structure.
The chemical composition of a particular type of mineral can vary slightly (as in the colored varieties of quartz illustrated in Figure 2.10), but the principal constituents are common to all specimens.
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Indicate whether the statement is true or false.
From earliest to most present, the correct order of largest urban settlements before 500 BC is
A) UR, Avaris, Nineveh. B) Thebes, Annad, Nineveh. C) Nineveh, Lagash, Thebes. D) Avaris, UR, Nineveh. E) Memphis, UR, Rome.
On an orthophoto map, one might expect to find ________
A) distortion-free photographs B) many problems with map distortion C) sketches rather than true projections D) cultural but not physical features E) symbols that are difficult to read