Minerals Quiz – Printable Version
20 multiple-choice questions with an explained answer key, ready to print.
Print the sheet (or save it as a PDF from the print window), hand it out, then mark it together using the answer page: every answer is explained. Perfect for a party, a birthday, a classroom, a care home or a team activity.
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- What is a closed rocky cavity lined with crystals (often amethyst or quartz) on the inside called?
- A. A Vein
- B. An Inclusion
- C. A Stalactite
- D. A Geode
- What is the iconic colour of Malachite, a copper-rich mineral?
- A. Sulfur yellow
- B. Intense green with concentric lines
- C. Deep azure blue
- D. Brick red
- Which mineral, commonly called 'fool's gold', has a golden yellow metallic lustre but scratches and breaks easily?
- A. Chalcopyrite
- B. Native Gold
- C. Galena
- D. Pyrite
- Which optical phenomenon gives Opal its changing, multicoloured iridescent reflections when moved in the light?
- A. UV fluorescence
- B. Phosphorescence
- C. Play of colours by light diffraction
- D. Mirror effect
- What is the property of certain minerals (such as Fluorite) to emit visible light when illuminated by ultraviolet rays called?
- A. Fluorescence
- B. Opalescence
- C. Pleochroism
- D. Piezoelectricity
- Which arsenic mineral, with a spectacular and toxic scarlet red colour, was formerly used as a poison or painting pigment before being banned?
- A. Crocoite
- B. Cinnabar
- C. Realgar
- D. Orpiment
- Which intense azure blue copper carbonate mineral is almost always found associated with green malachite deposits?
- A. Turquoise
- B. Azurite
- C. Sodalite
- D. Cavansite
- Which spectacular quartz variety features inclusions of long golden filaments of titanium oxide (rutile), nicknamed 'Venus hair'?
- A. Tourmaline Quartz
- B. Tiger's Eye
- C. Rutile Quartz
- D. Smoky Quartz
- Which mineral, known for its golden to brown hues, displays a shimmering undulating light effect reminiscent of a feline's pupil?
- A. Tiger's Eye
- B. Heliodor
- C. Labradorite
- D. Moonstone
- Which calcium phosphate mineral is the main component of tooth enamel and the rigid structure of our bones?
- A. Wavellite
- B. Turquoise
- C. Apatite
- D. Pyromorphite
- What do diamond, the hardest stone, and the graphite in our pencils, one of the softest minerals, have in common?
- A. Both are transparent
- B. Both come from volcanoes
- C. Nothing at all
- D. Both are made only of carbon
- On which Indonesian volcano can blue flames, caused by burning sulphur gases, be seen at night?
- A. Krakatoa
- B. Merapi
- C. Kawah Ijen
- D. Tambora
- Where does the 'carat', the unit of mass for gemstones (0.2 g), come from?
- A. From a jeweller's name
- B. From a town in India
- C. From carob seeds, once used as weights
- D. From the Latin 'carus', dear
- Which are traditionally the four 'precious stones', others being called 'semi-precious'?
- A. Diamond, pearl, gold and silver
- B. Diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald
- C. Ruby, topaz, opal and jade
- D. Sapphire, amethyst, garnet and turquoise
- What is the largest gold nugget ever found, discovered in Australia in 1869?
- A. The 'Welcome Stranger', over 70 kg
- B. The 'Eldorado', 2 kg
- C. The 'Golden Calf', 500 kg
- D. The 'Sun of the Incas', 10 kg
- Which famous diamond, whose Persian name means 'mountain of light', is part of the British Crown Jewels?
- A. The Hope
- B. The Regent
- C. The Sancy
- D. The Koh-i-Noor
- The 'Black Prince's Ruby', set in the British Imperial State Crown, is actually…?
- A. A garnet
- B. Tinted glass
- C. A genuine ruby
- D. A spinel
- What is the science that studies minerals, their composition and their crystals called?
- A. Petrology
- B. Palaeontology
- C. Seismology
- D. Mineralogy
- What is "rock crystal"?
- A. Lead glass
- B. A variety of diamond
- C. Rock salt
- D. Colourless, transparent quartz
- What is the best-known colour of garnet, a stone widely used in antique jewellery?
- A. Blue
- B. Green
- C. Yellow
- D. Dark red
Answer key — Minerals Quiz
- D. A GeodeGeodes often form in gas bubbles in volcanic rock or sedimentary cavities.
- B. Intense green with concentric linesMalachite owes its vivid green to the presence of copper carbonate.
- D. PyriteComposed of iron disulfide, pyrite forms magnificent natural golden cubes.
- C. Play of colours by light diffractionOpal is not strictly a crystal but amorphous silica containing water.
- A. FluorescenceThe electrons in certain minerals absorb invisible UV energy and instantly release it as coloured visible light.
- C. RealgarRealgar (As₄S₄) is an arsenic sulfide. Very unstable in light, it degrades in the sun into a yellow orpiment powder.
- B. AzuriteAzurite owes its azure colour to copper. It absorbs atmospheric moisture over millennia to slowly transform...
- C. Rutile QuartzRutile crystallizes as golden or reddish needles inside the quartz crystal during its growth.
- A. Tiger's EyeTiger's Eye is a variety of quartz containing asbestos fibres (crocidolite) that have been entirely replaced by silica and iron oxides, creating this unique chatoyancy when polished.
- C. ApatiteApatite corresponds to index 5 on the Mohs scale. It is one of the rare minerals manufactured directly by living organisms (biomineralisation) to reinforce their skeleton.
- D. Both are made only of carbonOnly the arrangement of the atoms differs: a very tight lattice in diamond, sliding layers in graphite.
- C. Kawah IjenMiners extract the sulphur by hand there, in toxic fumes, carrying down baskets of over 70 kg.
- C. From carob seeds, once used as weightsThought to be very uniform in mass, these seeds were used as counterweights on merchants' scales.
- B. Diamond, ruby, sapphire and emeraldThe distinction is commercial rather than scientific: some 'semi-precious' stones are worth more than precious ones.
- A. The 'Welcome Stranger', over 70 kgTwo miners found it a few centimetres below the surface, at the foot of a tree.
- D. The Koh-i-NoorOriginally from India, it passed through the hands of many rulers before being given to Queen Victoria in 1850.
- D. A spinelFor centuries, spinels and rubies, which share the same colour, were confused.
- D. MineralogyPetrology studies rocks, which are usually assemblages of several minerals.
- D. Colourless, transparent quartzThe ancients believed it was ice frozen forever: the word "crystal" comes from the Greek "krustallos", ice.
- D. Dark redIts name is thought to come from the pomegranate, whose red seeds it resembles.