COSMO 4: Sample Preparation and Analysis Quiz

1. Which of the following are appropriate safety measures during manual crushing of rock samples? (Select all that apply) 

2. What is the preferred grain size range for cosmogenic nuclide analysis in quartz? (Fill in the blanks) 
Answer: __________ to __________ µm 

3. Why is it important to retain grain sizes smaller than 250 µm? 

4. What does aqua regia remove during initial leaching? 

5. Which statement is true about magnetic separation of minerals? 

6. The process of magnetic separation is called “conservative” because: 

Which chemical causes feldspar and mica to become hydrophobic during flotation? (Fill in the blank) 
Answer: __________________ 

8. What is the primary purpose of froth flotation in quartz purification? 

9. How many etching cycles are typically completed? 

10. Meteoric ¹⁰Be must be removed during etching because: 

11. What is the threshold for Aluminium purity (in ppm) below which the quartz is considered clean enough for elemental extraction? (Fill in the blank) 
Answer: __________ ppm 

12. Which isotopes are added to facilitate AMS measurement? (Fill in the blanks) 
Answer: ____________ for Beryllium, ____________ for Aluminium 

13. Why is the HF bottle cap left loosely closed during initial digestion? 

14. Which visible indicator might suggest Titanium oxide is present after digestion? 

15. In anion exchange chromatography, Iron (III) forms a ___________ complex and appears as a brown stain. (Fill in the blank) 
Answer: ___________________ 

16. Titanium separation is challenging because: 

17. What happens if more than 10 mL of sulphuric acid is added during cation exchange? 

18. At what pH does Beryllium precipitate as a hydroxide? (Fill in the blank) 
Answer: __________ 

19. What is mixed with Beryllium Oxide before AMS pressing? 

20. What safety measure is specific to handling Beryllium oxide? 

21. Why must silver nitrate be added to hot solutions? 

22. Which of the following are true regarding precautions during silver nitrate addition? (Select all that apply) 

Which compound is used to remove sulphur before final AMS pressing for Chlorine? (Fill in the blank) 
Answer: ____________________ 

24. What substance is added to form a substrate in the cathode for Chlorine AMS analysis? 

25. What is one major reason SUERC’s chlorine analysis is considered unique in the UK?