One student did an experiment with two unknown minerals, Mineral 1 and Mineral 2. The hardness scale shown below was used for th

Question

3 years ago

9

One student did an experiment with two unknown minerals, Mineral 1 and Mineral 2. The hardness scale shown below was used for th

e experiment.
Mineral Talc Gypsum Calcite Fluorite Apatite Orthoclase
Hardness 1 2 3 4 5 6

Any mineral on the hardness scale would scratch minerals below it on the scale. The student tested Mineral 1 and observed that it could scratch only two other minerals on the hardness scale. It was observed that Mineral 2 could scratch only four other minerals on the hardness scale. Which of these is a correct conclusion the student can make about Mineral 1 and Mineral 2?
A) Mineral 1 can be used to scratch talc and Mineral 2 can be used to scratch orthoclase.
B) Mineral 1 can be used to scratch orthoclase and Mineral 2 can be used to scratch talc.
C) Mineral 1 can be used to scratch calcite and Mineral 2 can be used to scratch gypsum.
D) Mineral 1 can be used to scratch gypsum and Mineral 2 can be used to scratch calcite.

Physics

1 answer:

Umnica [9.8K] · Answer 1 · 2022-06-26T17:04:18+03:00

Scale: (soft 1-->6 hardest)
<span>1=Talc 2=Gypsum 3=Calcite 4=Fluorite 5=Apatite 6=Orthoclase

</span>Mineral #1 can only scratch two other minerals therefore it must have a hardness level of 2+1=3 which is Calcite. (scratches talc, gypsum)

Mineral #2 can scratch four other minerals therefore it must have a hardness level of 4+1=5 which is Apatite. (scratches all but Apatite, Orthoclase)

Looking through the possible conclusions.. It looks like answer is D.