Question

The basic building block of all minerals is the _____________. Select one: a. silicon tetrahedron b. silica tetrahedron c. silicone tetrahedron d. silicate tetrahedron

Answer 1

The basic building block of all minerals is the _____________. Select one: a. silicon tetrahedron b. silica tetrahedron c. silicone tetrahedron d. silicate tetrahedron

The right answer to this question is option b – silicate tetrahedron. It is the major constituent of the silica minerals. The structure of silica tetrahedron consists of one silica atom surrounded by four atoms of oxygen. It is found in all silica minerals and is very strong and stable combination that forms the structure of the minerals by sharing oxygen at its corner. Silicon has 14 electrons, of which two electron lies in the innermost cell, 8 lies in the next shell and the rest 4 are known as valence shell. Thus it interacts with oxygen to fill its valence shell as oxygen is a strong oxidizer. Each of oxygen’s in the tetrahedron shares one electron from the silicon atom in a covalent bond, so the resulting oxygen atom is an anion with one negative charge. Thus, four negative charges, SiO44– exists in a tetrahedron structure