EXAM QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS FOR
PHSC 211 MIDTERM EXAM AND PHSC 211 FINAL
EXAM 2025 TEST BANK (NEW!)
250 PRACTICE QUESTIONS FOR PHSC 211 – MIDTERM & FINAL EXAM
✅ TOPICS INCLUDE EARTH STRUCTURE, WEATHER SYSTEMS, PLATE TECTONICS, COSMOLOGY, AND
MORE
✅ ANSWERS INCLUDED WITH EXPLANATIONS FOR SELF-ASSESSMENT
✅ ALIGNED WITH LIBERTY UNIVERSITY’S 2025 COURSE OUTLINE
✅ IDEAL FOR STUDY GROUPS, SOLO REVIEW, OR LAST-MINUTE PREP
All the following properties of minerals are used for identification except ____________. -
CORRECT ANSWER-Melting Point
Quartz can scratch all of the following except ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-Topaz
A naturally occurring inorganic substance with a definite chemical composition is a ____________. -
CORRECT ANSWER-Mineral
Having 3 planes of cleavage is an identifying property of which mineral(s)? - CORRECT ANSWER-
a. Galena
b. Calcite
c. Halite
5. Metallic minerals are all ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-Opaque
The way light reflects off a mineral's surface is referred to as its ____________. - CORRECT
ANSWER-Luster
If a mineral is permitted to grow unhindered during its formation, the resulting shape will always be
its ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-Crystal Form
,All magnetic minerals are also ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-Metallic
The tool used to determine the color of the powder of mineral is a ____________. - CORRECT
ANSWER-Streak Plate
A mineral that can scratch a nail but that cannot scratch glass is ____________. - CORRECT
ANSWER-Apatite
Which mineral is metallic? - CORRECT ANSWER-Hematite
The cubic shape identifies a mineral that has ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-a. 3 planes of
cleavage
b. cleavage planes intersecting at 90°
c. an absence of fracture surfaces
The mineral quartz is ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-The most abundant mineral in the
earth's crust
A unique property of what mineral is double refraction? - CORRECT ANSWER-Calcite
The following statements are true of all metallic minerals except which? - CORRECT ANSWER-
They evidence the property of magnetism.
All of the following are minerals except which? ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-Coal
The minerals dolomite and calcite are best distinguished from one another by ____________. -
CORRECT ANSWER-An acid test
Gold settles to the bottom of a miner's pan because of its - CORRECT ANSWER-High Specific
Gravity
, Any object with a specific gravity of less than 1 will ____________. - CORRECT ANSWER-Float
Minerals that have the element ____________ in their chemical composition may have an odor akin
to that of rotten eggs. - CORRECT ANSWER-Sulfer
The gas released when weak acid reacts with calcite is oxygen. - CORRECT ANSWER-False
All magnetic minerals will have the element iron in their chemical composition - CORRECT
ANSWER-True
The largest commercial use of the mineral halite is table salt. - CORRECT ANSWER-True
The fingernail can scratch the mineral calcite. - CORRECT ANSWER-False
The mineral scale of hardness was named after the famous scientist Von Verner - CORRECT
ANSWER-False
Crystal shape refers to how a mineral breaks. - CORRECT ANSWER-False
Halite has three plans of cleavage at 90°. - CORRECT ANSWER-True
Biotite and muscovite have 1 plane of cleavage in common. - CORRECT ANSWER-True
The specific gravity of the mineral is estimated by moving the mineral from hand to hand. -
CORRECT ANSWER-True
The mineral talc is 1 on Mohs scale of hardness and has a soapy feel to it. - CORRECT ANSWER-
True