1. Identifying Mineral Earth Science Chapter 1.2

2. Objectives: Identify seven ways to determine the identity of minerals. Explain special properties of minerals.

3. Identifying Minerals Use Properties Color Minerals display a wide variety of colors, and often the same mineral can be found in many different colors usually not the best way to identify a mineral *** All varieties of Quartz

4. Luster The way a mineral reflects light Three types of mineral luster Metallic – bright, reflective Submetallic – dull, reflective Nonmetallic - dull Earthy pearly glassy silky resinous waxy

5. Streak The color of a mineral in powdered form Can be found by running the mineral against a piece of unglazed porcelain called a streak plate color of a mineral’s streak is not always the same as the color of the mineral sample Gold Platinum Copper

6. Cleavage and Fracture Different types of minerals break in different ways Cleavage Tendency of some minerals to break along smooth, flat surfaces Fracture Tendency of some minerals to break unevenly along curved or irregular surfaces Examples of cleavage Examples of fracture

7. Hardness Mineral’s resistance to being scratched scientists use Mohs hardness scale

8. Density measure of how much matter is in a given amount of space Density is a ratio of an object’s mass to its volume Density = 5.1 g/cm3 Density = 19.3 g/cm3 Specific Gravity : Ratio of an objects density to the density of water

9. Special Properties Some properties are particular to only a few types of minerals