Minerals: Identifying Minerals

The video tutorial explains how to identify minerals by examining their properties. It begins with a comparison between gold and pyrite, highlighting the importance of specific properties like color, streak, and luster. The tutorial then introduces the Mohs hardness scale, explaining how minerals vary in hardness. It also covers how minerals break, discussing cleavage and fracture. Finally, it touches on crystal structures and other identifying properties such as density, taste, and odor.

Which mineral is often mistaken for gold due to its appearance?

• Quartz

• Pyrite

• Halite

• Talc

What is the term for the color of a mineral's powder when rubbed on porcelain?

• Cleavage

• Streak

• Fracture

• Luster

How is the way a mineral reflects light described?

• Cleavage

• Streak

• Luster

• Hardness

On the Mohs hardness scale, which mineral is the hardest?

• Quartz

• Pyrite

• Talc

• Diamond

What is the term for a mineral's tendency to break along flat surfaces?

• Fracture

• Cleavage

• Luster

• Streak