Minerals Vocab

Molten rock beneath the Earth’s surface.

• crystal

• hardness

• magma

• ore

A rock that contains enough of a valuable mineral to be mined for a profit.

• luster

• ore

• mineral

• element

The color of a mineral powder left behind when a mineral is scraped across a surface; a method for classifying minerals.

• streak

• hardness

• luster

• lava

The resistance of a mineral or other material to being scratched. 

• density

• crystal

• mineral

• hardness

A solid substance in which the atoms are arranged in an orderly, repeating, three-dimensional pattern.

• crystal

• luster

• metallic

• lava

A substance that cannot be broken down into a simpler substance by ordinary chemical changes.  An element consists of atoms of only one type.

• clevage

• element

• fracture

• magma

A substance that forms in nature, is a solid, has a definite chemical makeup, and has a crystal structure

• ore

• crystal

• luster

• mineral

The property of a mineral that describes its tendency to break along flat surfaces.

• cleavage

• lava

• magma

• hardness

A property of matter representing mass per unit volume.

• luster

• density

• ore

• minerals

The tendency of a mineral to break into irregular pieces.

• luster

• streak

• element

• fracture