Ch 23: Physical Science - Minerals and Rocks: Help and Review
About This Chapter
Who's it for?
Anyone who needs help learning or mastering high school physical science material will benefit from taking this course. There is no faster or easier way to learn high school physical science. Among those who would benefit are:
- Students who have fallen behind in understanding chemical, physical and other characteristic of rocks and minerals
- Students who struggle with learning disabilities or learning differences, including autism and ADHD
- Students who prefer multiple ways of learning science (visual or auditory)
- Students who have missed class time and need to catch up
- Students who need an efficient way to learn about physical science and minerals and rocks
- Students who struggle to understand their teachers
- Students who attend schools without extra science learning resources
How it works:
- Find videos in our course that cover what you need to learn or review.
- Press play and watch the video lesson.
- Refer to the video transcripts to reinforce your learning.
- Test your understanding of each lesson with short quizzes.
- Verify you're ready by completing the physical science and minerals and rocks chapter exam.
Why it works:
- Study Efficiently: Skip what you know, review what you don't.
- Retain What You Learn: Engaging animations and real-life examples make topics easy to grasp.
- Be Ready on Test Day: Use the physical science and minerals and rocks chapter exam to be prepared.
- Get Extra Support: Ask our subject-matter experts any physical science and minerals and rocks question. They're here to help!
- Study With Flexibility: Watch videos on any web-ready device.
Students will review:
This chapter helps students review the concepts in a physical science and minerals and rocks unit of a standard high school physical science course. Topics covered include:
- Optical properties of minerals
- Crystal shape of minerals
- Mineral strength
- Mineral density and specific gravity
- Silicate minerals
- Non-silicate minerals
- Rocks and minerals
- Rock cycle
- Types of rocks
1. Optical Properties of Minerals: Luster, Light Transmission, Color & Streak
A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic solid with a particular crystalline structure. Explore the optical properties of minerals, including luster, light transmission, color, and streak, and discover why minerals are defined differently by geologists and the mining industry.
2. Crystal Shape of Minerals: Forms and Types
The crystal habit, or the external shape of a crystal, can be used to help identify minerals. Discover the different types of crystals, including euhedral and non-geometric, and their different habit forms.
3. Mineral Strength: Tenacity, Hardness, Cleavage & Fracture
Mineral strength is calculated by measuring tenacity, hardness, cleavage, and fracture. Examine the methods of each of these concepts through examples, and learn about the usage of the Mohs scale to determine the hardness of a mineral, and find examples of brittle, malleable, sectile, and elastic minerals.
4. Mineral Density & Specific Gravity: Definition and Properties
Mineral density, or the mass per volume, and specific gravity, or the ratio of mass to an equal volume of water, are used to identify minerals. Learn more about these properties and discover how to calculate mineral density and specific gravity through water displacement.
5. Silicate Minerals: Chemical Classifications & Examples
Most minerals on Earth are classified as silicate minerals with different chemical classifications. Learn to identify examples of silicate minerals, understand their chemical classifications, and discover the importance of the silicon-oxygen tetrahedra.
6. Non-silicate Minerals: Chemical Classifications & Examples
Non-silicate minerals lack silicon but are still an important part of the earth's composition. Learn to differentiate silicate from non-silicate materials and study the chemical classifications of non-silicate minerals through examples such as carbonates, sulfates, and halides.
7. Rocks and Minerals: Definitions and Differences
Rocks and minerals are natural objects with important uses, which include being used in the materials to produce things like automobiles, jewelry, and asphalt for highways. Learn about rocks and minerals, and explore their definitions and classification differences. Understand the geologic processes that create rocks, as well as the chemical properties of minerals.
8. Rock Cycle: Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic Rocks
The rock cycle describes the creation, alteration and destruction of the rocks that form from magma. Learn more about the rock cycle, including the three main rock types - igneous (magma that solidifies), sedimentary (rock made from eroded materials that are cemented together), and metamorphic (rocks that are transformed into new substances when exposed to intense heat and pressure) - and how they are formed.
9. Types of Rocks: The Three Major Rock Groups
There are three main types of rock: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Explore the types of rock, the characteristics that make them different, and learn how the Earth forms each type.
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Other Chapters
Other chapters within the High School Physical Science: Help and Review course
- Physical Science - Understanding Matter: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Understanding Gases: Help and Review
- The Atom & Atomic Structure: Physical Science Help & Review
- Physical Science - The Periodic Table: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Understanding Chemical Bonding: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Understanding Solutions: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Stoichiometry: Help and Review
- Help & Review for Chemical Reactions, Acids & Bases in Physical Science
- Physical Science - Atomic and Nuclear Physics: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Understanding Motion: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Force, Motion, and Newton's Laws: Help and Review
- Energy, Power, Work & Thermodynamics: Help & Review
- Physical Science - Waves, Sound, and Light: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Electricity: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Thermal Physics: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Magnetism: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Intro to Organic Chemistry: Help and Review
- Physical Science - The Universe: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Atmospheric Science: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Geologic Time: Help and Review
- The Earth's Internal Structure: Physical Science Help & Review
- Physical Science - Plate Tectonics: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Igneous Rocks: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Sedimentary Rocks - A Deeper Look: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Metamorphic Rocks - A Deeper Look: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Volcanoes: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Earthquakes: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Weathering and Erosion: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Water Balance: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Ground Water: Help and Review
- Physical Science - Coastal Hazards: Help and Review