Mineral Properties

Which of the following statements below is NOT a characteristics of minerals? 

• Crystallince Structure

• Same chemical composition throughout

• Composed of decayed plant matter

• Naturally occuring

• Inorganic

  Solid

The way a surface (of a mineral) reflects light is describing which property of minerals. Either metallic or nonmetallic:

• Luster

• Streak

• Reflection

• Cleavage

Which of these minerals is softer than glass (5.5)?

• Corundum

• Orthoclase

• Calcite

• Topaz

Which characteristic of mineral identification is shown below?

• Luster

• Cleavage

• Fracture

• Streak

Which of the following is NOT a property of a mineral identification?

• Color

• Hardness

• Temperature

• Streak

Amethyst is purple quartz. Smoky quartz is black. Citrine quartz is yellow or orange. Which property of quartz is being described?

• Fracture

• Color

• Streak

• Luster

What do you call the tendency of minerals to break with rough or jagged edges?

 

• Streak

• Cleavage

• Fracture

• Break

The tendency for a mineral to split along specific planes of weakness to form smooth, flat surfaces is called what?

 

• Cleavage

• Fracture

• Crystallization

• Streak

Discuss why using a minerals color is not  an efficient way to identify a mineral?

You have two minerals, magnetite and hematite which look very similiar.  Discuss what test you could perform on the minerals to identify which one is magnetite and which is hematite.