Student Exploration: Mineral Identification
Vocabulary: crystal, density, hardness, homogeneous, luster, mass, mineral, streak, volume
Prior Knowledge Questions (Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo.)
1. Suppose you find a yellow piece of metal in a stream. How could you tell if it is real gold?
_To tell if it’s real gold check out it’s density, find it’s mass and volume, see if it’s luster
And how hard it is.__________________________________________________________
2. In the city a street peddler offers to sell you a diamond ring for thirty bucks. How could you test if the rock in the ring is a real diamond?
_To tell if it’s real diamond check out it’s density, find it’s mass and volume, see if it’s luster
And how hard it is.________________________________________________________
Gizmo Warm-up: Determining density
A mineral is a naturally formed crystal. You can identify a mineral by its properties. In the Mineral Identification Gizmo™, under Choose property to test, select Density.
1. Mass is the amount of substance in an object. Drag the mineral sample onto the balance.
What is the mass of the mineral? _69.6g_____ (Units are grams, g.)
2. Volume is the amount of space an object takes up. The volume is measured by how much the water rises in a graduated cylinder. Drag the mineral into the cylinder.
What is the volume of the mineral? __24.0 mL___ (Units are milliliters, or mL.)
3. Density is a measure of how “light” or “heavy” an object is for its size. To find the density of an object, divide the mass by the volume. (Calculators are recommended.)
What is the density of the mineral? ___2.9g/mL_____ (Units are grams per milliliter, g/mL.
|Activity A: |Get the Gizmo ready: