NAME______DATE______PERIOD______
LAB SAFETY & MINERALS TEST
STUDY GUIDE
(ANSWER KEY)
Answer the following questions and use this to help you study for your test on ______.
1. Describe how you should move around the science lab.
Walk, very carefully
2. When you are involved in a lab, you should give directions and procedures all of your…..
interest, attention, effort
3. Who is responsible for cleaning up the laboratory or classroom?
Each student
4. Why would disturbing other students when they are working in a laboratory not be considered
best lab safety practices?
It can be dangerous, as their attention has turned away from the lab.
5. You should prepare for each laboratory activity by reading all of the instructions…..
Before you start
6. Describe the correct laboratory safety procedure for smelling an unknown liquid.
Place the container six inches away from your nose and waft it toward you.
7. Before using equipment, you need to check it for…..
cleanliness, chips, cracks or damage.
8. How should your work area look during a lab activity?
Desktops cleared off, books/binders underneath the table, chairs pushed in if standing up.
9. How do you determine the hardness of a mineral?
Scratch it with other minerals from the Mohs hardness scale
10. Define “inorganic”.
Non-living; no materials that were once part of living things.
11. Define “crystal”.
The repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles that forms a solid.
12. Define “luster”.
How a mineral reflects light from its surface
13. Why are cement, brick, steel and glass not classified as minerals?
They are not naturally occurring
14. Which mineral is the most resistant (doesn’t want to be) to scratching?
Diamond
15. Why are gemstones valuable?
They are beautiful and rare.
16. What are the 4 characteristics that a mineral must have in order to be classified as a
mineral? (HINT: Think of NCIS!!!)
1. Naturally occurring
2. Crystalline structure
3. Inorganic
4. Solid
17. Define “cleavage”.
The tendency of some minerals to break along smooth, flat surfaces.
18. Define “density”.
The measure of how much matter (mass) is in a given space (volume)
19. Define “reclamation”.
The process of returning land to its original condition after mining is completed
20. Define “streak”.
The color of a mineral after it has been swiped across a tile plate (streak plate); more
reliable way to identify minerals than color.
Use the table below to answer Questions
Mohs Hardness Scale
Hardness / Mineral1 / Talc
2 / Gypsum
3 / Calcite
4 / Fluorite
5 / Apatite
6 / Feldspar (Orthoclase)
7 / Quartz
8 / Topaz
9 / Corundum
10 / Diamond
21. Identify the softest mineral on the Mohs Hardness Scale.
Talc
22. On the Mohs hardness scale, which minerals are harder than quartz?
Topaz, corundum and diamond
23. On the Mohs hardness scale, which minerals can fluorite scratch?
Talc, gypsum, calcite
24. What would you expect to happen if you rubbed a mineral of 5.5 hardness against a piece
of apatite?
It would scratch the apatite.
25. What scientific tool do we use to measure mass?
Triple-beam balance
26. What scientific tool do we use to measure liquid volume?
Graduated cylinder
27. What is the curved line you see when observing a liquid in the graduated cylinder?
meniscus
28. A block of wood has a mass of 27 grams and a volume of 9 cm3. Find the density.
D = m/v
D = 27g/9cm3
D = 3 g/cm3