Minerals

In order to be classified as a mineral, it must have all 5 of these characteristics:

• Natural: it must occur naturally

• Inorganic: it must NOT be made from living things or the remains of living things

• Solid: solid everywhere on Earth's surface

• Definite chemical composition: must have the same chemical formula throughout

• Crystalline structure: atoms are arranged in a repeating pattern making a specific shape

What Are Minerals?

• Each mineral has its own properties.

• These properties can be used to tell one mineral from another.

• Some physical properties are hardness, color, and luster.  

• There are about 4,000 different minerals.

Multiple Choice

What is a mineral?

• a non-living solid found in nature

• scratching another mineral

• breaking another mineral

• the hardness

Hardness

• Hardness is one of the better properties of minerals to use for identifying a mineral.

• How hard or soft a mineral is.

• Can the mineral scratch another surface or can it be scratched easily by something else?

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Hardness

• Hardness is measured by a scale numbered 1-10 with 1 being the softest and 10 being the hardest.

• Diamond is the hardest known mineral.

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Multiple Choice

What is hardness?

• whether a mineral can break an object.

• whether a mineral can be broken.

• whether a mineral can scratch something else or be scratched.

• whether a mineral can be shiny

Multiple Choice

The hardness of minerals is numbered from:

• 1-10

• 1-9

• 1-11

• 0-10

Multiple Choice

What is the hardest mineral?

• Luster

• Rock

• Rock

• Diamond

Multiple Choice

True or False:

Color CANNOT be used as the only property to identify minerals.

• True

• False

Luster

• The way light bounces off a mineral

  
  

• Examples:

  Shiny, metallic, glassy, dull, and pearly

Multiple Choice

Luster is:

• The color of a mineral

• The way light bounces off a mineral

• The way light appears on a mineral

• Whether a mineral can be scratched or can scratch something else.

Luster: how a mineral reflects light

Hardness: rated on the Mohs scale from 1, softest, to 10, hardest

Streak: color of the powder scraped off a mineral

Cleavage: breaking along flat surfaces

Density: amount of matter in a given volume

Multiple Choice

Which of the following are characteristics of a mineral?

• natural

• crystalline structure

• solid

• all of the above

Multiple Select

Which of the following do NOT classify as a mineral because they don't meet all 5 characteristics?

• coal

• wood

• salt

• quartz

Multiple Choice

If a mineral breaks along flat surfaces, it demonstrates this property.

• color

• streak

• luster

• cleavage

Multiple Choice

If a mineral is said to be "metallic", this is a description of its:

• color

• streak

• luster

• cleavage

Multiple Choice

If a mineral is gold in color, but the powdered color is rusty brown, this is an example of its:

• color

• streak

• luster

• cleavage

Multiple Choice

This mineral identification property is the most easily observed, but the least reliable.

• color

• streak

• luster

• cleavage

Multiple Choice

What are the three properties of minerals?

• hardness, color, softness

• hardness, color, luster

• hardness, color, shape

• hardness, color, weight