Rocks and Minerals Overview

This set of flashcards covers key vocabulary and concepts related to rocks and minerals, including definitions and characteristics.

Geosphere

The solid part of the Earth consisting of rocks and minerals.

Minerals

Pure substances that make up rocks, with around 2,000 known minerals.

Oxygen

The most common element in the Earth's rocks, making up about 46%.

Silicon

The second most common element in rocks, accounting for approximately 27.7%.

Pyrite

Also known as 'fool's gold', a mineral that can resemble gold but is harder and has a black streak.

Cleavage

The tendency of minerals to break along planes of atomic weakness.

Streak

The color of the powder left by a mineral when it is rubbed on an unglazed porcelain tile.

Luster

The way a mineral reflects light, classified as metallic or nonmetallic.

Hardness

A characteristic of minerals indicating their ability to resist scratching, measured on the Mohs scale.

Lab-grown Diamonds

Diamonds created artificially in a lab, identical to natural diamonds but not naturally occurring.

Inorganic solid

A characteristic of minerals indicating that they are not made from living things.

Corundum

A mineral that is harder than diamond at times, used as a comparison for hardness.