Eduqas A-Level Geology Elements, minerals and rocks overview quiz quiz

Oxygen and silicon

Iron and aluminium

Calcium and magnesium

Sodium and potassium

Same neutrons, different protons

Same protons, different neutrons

Same electrons, different protons

Same protons, different electrons

Quartz is simply harder than mica, and greater hardness on the Mohs scale always prevents any mineral from showing cleavage

Mica contains no silicon at all, so it is not a true silicate mineral and therefore behaves quite differently from quartz when it is broken

Quartz is a uniform framework with equally strong bonds in all directions, whereas mica has weak bonds between strongly bonded sheets

Quartz is held together entirely by metallic bonding, which removes any planes of weakness and so prevents cleavage from forming

Framework (fully linked tetrahedra)

Sheet (layered tetrahedra)

Double chain (amphibole type)

Isolated (independent) tetrahedra

Resistance rises and the ratio falls (towards 1:2)

Both the weathering resistance and the silicon-to-oxygen ratio steadily decrease together

Resistance falls towards quartz while the silicon-to-oxygen ratio instead rises towards 1:4

Both the weathering resistance and the silicon-to-oxygen ratio stay exactly the same throughout

Carbonate

Sulphide

Oxide

Halide

Less than 2.5 (softer than a fingernail)

Greater than 7 (harder than steel)

Between about 3.5 and 5.5

Exactly 10 (as hard as diamond)

Streak is simply much easier to see with the naked eye than the surface colour of a specimen

The surface colour of a mineral is never of any use whatsoever when trying to identify it in the field

The streak test actually measures the hardness of the mineral rather than the colour of its powder

The powdered streak removes the effect of impurities and coatings, giving a consistent colour

Strong attraction to a magnet

Vigorous fizzing and effervescence when dilute hydrochloric acid is dropped onto it

A distinctly salty taste when a small clean fragment is touched to the tip of the tongue

An unusually low density that lets it float freely on the surface of a beaker of water

It is strongly attracted to a magnet held close to a fresh specimen

It fizzes (effervesces) in dilute hydrochloric acid

It readily scratches a glass plate because of its very high hardness

It conducts an electric current well, showing clearly metallic bonding

Yes, a separate endorsement graded as pass or not classified, exactly as it is done in the A-level sciences such as physics and chemistry

Yes, and the graded practical endorsement counts directly for a full twenty per cent of the final A-level grade awarded

No; practical and fieldwork skills are assessed within the written components, with a minimum of four days of fieldwork required

No separate endorsement exists, and there is no minimum requirement for any fieldwork days during the course at all

It is always considerably quicker to make than taking a single quick photograph of the outcrop

Photographs of any kind are strictly forbidden when carrying out geological fieldwork at an outcrop

A field sketch always shows the true colour of the rock far more accurately than any photograph can manage

It lets the geologist select, emphasise and annotate the key features and add measurements and scale

By recrystallisation of existing rock in the solid state under heat and pressure

By the complete melting of existing rock followed by slow crystallisation from the resulting magma

By the deposition, burial, compaction and cementation of loose sediment grains over long periods

Only by the chemical and physical weathering of bedrock exposed at the surface of the Earth

The Earth's internal heat only

Solar energy and gravity

Radioactive decay in the core

Tidal forces from the Moon