Question

On a trip to the natural history museum you find two minerals that are similar in color. You can see from their chemical formulas that one mineral contains the elements zinc, carbon, and oxygen. The other mineral contains the elements zinc, silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Your friend tells you that the minerals are in the same mineral group. Do you agree? Explain your reasoning.

Answer 1

The two minerals are not in the same mineral group, one is likely a carbonate and the other a silicate, based on their anionic groups of carbon and oxygen, and silicon and oxygen respectively.

Step-by-step explanation:

To determine if two minerals are part of the same mineral group, we need to consider several factors such as their chemical composition and crystalline structure. A mineral group is a classification based on shared characteristics among minerals, particularly the anions or anionic groups present. The first mineral containing zinc, carbon, and oxygen suggests that it could be a carbonate due to the presence of carbon and oxygen. The second mineral contains zinc, silicon, oxygen, and hydrogen which indicates it could be a silicate, especially because silicon and oxygen are typically part of the silicate group. Because the defining anion groups (carbonate and silicate) are different for these two minerals, they are not in the same mineral group even though they share a common element, zinc.

Answer 2

Answer:Yes they are in the same mineral group

Explanation:zinc is the central elements there. The rest of the elements are present as impurities due to where it was found. Like carbon is can be found in the soil, silicon with oxygen is basically sand, hydrogen is in the atmosphere and also in water and soil too. So apart from zinc, the rest are normal day to day elements.