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Identifying Minerals

Identifying Minerals. Each mineral has its own specific properties used to identify it. Color. The same mineral can come in a variety of colors Ex. quartz Impurities & other factors can change mineral appearance Color is not the best way to identify minerals.

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Identifying Minerals

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  1. Identifying Minerals • Each mineral has its own specific properties used to identify it.

  2. Color • The same mineral can come in a variety of colors • Ex. quartz • Impurities & other factors can change mineral appearance • Color is not the best way to identify minerals

  3. Describes how a surface reflects light Ex. shiny/dull Metallic- minerals containing metals are often shiny Nonmetallic Vitreous- glassy, brilliant Silky-fibrous Resinous-plastic Waxy- greasy, oily Pearly- creamy Earthy- rough, dull Luster

  4. Streak • Color of mineral in powder form • Observed by rubbing a mineral against a piece of unglazed porcelain called a streak plate • Streak doesn’t vary like color & is often different than a mineral’s color • More reliable than color

  5. Cleavage and Fracture • Way a mineral breaks apart determined by arrangement of atoms • Cleavage- breaks along flat surfaces • Fracture- mineral breaks in an irregular way

  6. Hardness • Minerals resistance to being scratched • Ranks minerals from softest to hardest • Talc- softest known mineral • Diamond- hardest known mineral

  7. Hardness

  8. Density • Mass in a given space/ mass per unit volume • D= M/V • Density remains same regardless of sample size • Mass determined using balance • Volume determined using water displacement method • Comparisons can be made by hefting • Specific Gravity- ratio of an object’s density to the density of water

  9. Special Properties • Fluorescence- minerals glow under ultraviolet light, ex. fluorite & calcite • Magnetism- ex. Magnetite • Radioactive- ex. contain radium or uranium • Effervescence- mineral fizzes (releases carbon dioxide) when in contact with hydrochloric acid, ex. calcite

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