CHAPTER 3- MINERAL AND POWER RESOURCES
Answer the following questions:-
1. What is a mineral?
Answer – A naturally occurring substance that has a definite chemical composition is a mineral.
2. What is rock?
Answer – A rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals but without definite composition of constituents of minerals.
3. What are ores?
Answer – Rocks from which minerals are mined are known as ores.
4. Classify minerals on the basis of their composition.
Answer – On the basis of composition, minerals are classified mainly as metallic and non-metallic minerals.
5. What are ferrous and non-ferrous minerals?
Answer – Metallic minerals may be ferrous or non-ferrous.
Ferrous minerals like iron ore, manganese, and chromites contain iron.
A non-ferrous mineral does not contain iron but may contain some other metal such as gold, silver, copper, or lead.
6. List some metallic and non-metallic minerals.
Answer –
Metallic minerals contain metal in raw form. Metals are hard substances that conduct heat and electricity and have a characteristic luster or shine. Iron ore, bauxite, manganese ore are some examples.
Non-metallic minerals do not contain metals. Limestone, mica, and gypsum are examples of such minerals. The mineral fuels like coal and petroleum are also non-metallic minerals.
7. List some ways by minerals can be extracted.
Answer – Minerals can be extracted by mining, drilling, or quarrying.
8. What is mining?
Answer – The process of taking out minerals from rocks buried under the earth’s surface is called mining.
9 What is open-cast mining?
Answer – Minerals that lie at shallow depths are taken out by removing the surface
layer, such type of mining is known as open-cast mining.
10. What is shaft mining?
Answer – Sometimes deep bores are called shafts, have to be made to reach mineral deposits that lie at great depths. Such mining is called shaft mining.
11. What is quarrying?
Answer – Minerals that lie near the surface are simply dugout, by the process known as quarrying.
12. What are the mineral deposit zones of North America?
Answer –
The mineral deposits in North America are located in three zones:
a) The Canadian Shield region north of the Great Lakes
- It has deposits of Iron ore, nickel, gold, uranium and copper.
b) The Appalachian region
- It has coal deposits.
c) The mountain ranges of the west i.e. Western Cordilleras.
- It has vast deposits of copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver.
13. Which region of Australia has large gold deposits?
Answer – Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie areas of Western Australia have the largest deposits of gold.
14. List any five uses of minerals.
Answer –
Minerals are used in many industries.
- Minerals are used as gems in jewellery.
- Copper is another metal used in everything from coins to pipes.
- Silicon used in the computer industry is obtained from quartz.
- Aluminum obtained from its ore bauxite is used in automobiles and airplanes, bottling industry, buildings and even in kitchen cookware.
- Iron is known as the Backbone of modern industry.
15. Is mineral a renewable or non-renewable resource? Why?
Answer – Minerals are a non-renewable resource.
It takes thousands of years for the formation and concentration of minerals. The rate of formation is much smaller than the rate at which humans consume these minerals.
16. What are conventional sources of energy? Name any two.
Answer –
Conventional sources of energy are those which have been in common use for a long time. Firewood and fossil fuels are the two main conventional energy sources.
17. How do Fossil fuels form?
Answer – Remains of plants and animals which were buried under the earth for millions of years got converted by the heat and pressure into fossil fuels.
18. What is thermal power?
Answer – Electricity from coal is called thermal power.
19. Which resource of energy is also known as Buried Sunshine and why?
Answer – Millions of years ago when giant ferns and swamps got buried under the layers of earth. Under high pressure and temperature, they got converted into coal. As it was once buried and provides energy when burnt, so they are referred to as Buried Sunshine.
20. List some coal-producing countries of the world.
Answer – The leading coal producers of the world are China, the USA, Germany, Russia, South Africa, and France.
21. List some coal-producing states of India.
Answer – The coal-producing areas of India are Raniganj, Jharia, Dhanbad, and Bokaro in
Jharkhand.
22. Which mineral is called Black Gold and why?
Answer – Petroleum and its derivatives are called Black Gold as they are very valuable and in the crude form they are black in color.
23. Name some chief petroleum-producing countries of the world.
Answer – The chief petroleum-producing countries are Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, USA, Russia, Venezuela, and Algeria.
24. Name some chief petroleum-producing regions of India.
Answer – The leading petroleum producers in India are Digboi in Assam, Bombay High in Mumbai, and the deltas of Krishna and Godavari rivers.
25. Where can we found Natural Gas reserves in India?
Answer – In India Jaisalmer, Krishna Godavari delta, Tripura and some areas offshore in Mumbai have natural gas resources.
26. Name some major natural gas-producing countries of the world.
Answer – Russia, Norway, UK, and the Netherlands are the major producers of natural gas.
27. What is hydroelectricity?
Answer – Rainwater or river water stored in dams is made to fall from heights. The falling water flows through pipes inside the dam over turbine blades placed at the bottom of the dam. The moving blades then turn the generator to produce electricity. This is called hydroelectricity.
28. Which country was the first to develop hydroelectricity?
Answer – Norway.
29. Name some major hydel power-producing countries in the world.
Answer – The leading producers of hydel power in the world are Paraguay, Norway, Brazil, and China.
30. Name some important hydel power plants of India.
Answer – Some important hydel power stations in India are Bhakra Nangal, Gandhi Sagar, Nagarjunsagar, and Damodar valley projects.
31. Name two radio-active elements.
Answer – Uranium and Thorium.
32. In a Nuclear Power plant, the radio-active elements undergo nuclear fusion or fission process?
Answer – Nuclear fission.
33. Where you can find Uranium in India?
Answer – In India Rajasthan and Jharkhand have large deposits of Uranium.
34. Where you can find Thorium in India?
Answer – Thorium is found in large quantities in the Monazite sands of Kerala.
35. Name some Nuclear Power Stations of India.
Answer – The nuclear power stations in India are located in Kalpakkam in Tamilnadu,
Tarapur in Maharastra, Ranapratap Sagar near Kota in Rajasthan, Narora in Uttar Pradesh, and Kaiga in Karnataka.
36. Where you can find geothermal power plants in India?
Answer – In India, geothermal plants are located in Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh and Puga Valley in Ladakh.
37. What are the main components of the Bio-gas?
Answer – Methane and Carbon-dioxide.