Question

What mineral is described below? - White and glassy in appearance - Mass = 54 grams - Volume = 20 milliliters - Scratches a fingernail but not a penny - White streak - Fizzes in acid

Answer 1

Answer:

The mineral is calcite.

Lustre — glassy; ∴ non-metallic

Hardness — between a fingernail (2.5) and a penny (3)

Streak — white

Specific gravity — 54/20 = 2.7

Colour —white

Acid reaction — Fizzes; ∴ a carbonate

The only carbonate mineral that satisfies all these criteria is calcite, CaCO₃.

Explanation:

The correspondent claims that drowning before being able to “nibble at the sacred cheese of life” refers to the feeling of being a mouse caught in a trap, powerless and weak.

Crane portrays the classic conflict of man against nature, represented in the sea. His men adrift learn the ruthless indifference of nature to humanity and the inexistent possibility of a benevolent intervention from God nor nature.