Minerals can be identified through several properties including color, luster, streak, cleavage, fracture, hardness, density, and special properties. Color is not always reliable since the same mineral can appear in different colors. Luster describes how a mineral reflects light in three categories: metallic, submetallic, and nonmetallic. Streak is the color of a mineral's powder and can differ from its solid color. Cleavage and fracture describe how minerals break, with cleavage along smooth planes and fracture along irregular surfaces. Hardness is measured on the Mohs scale and density measures mass per volume. Special properties like magnetism or fluorescence are unique identifiers for some minerals.

1. Identifying MineralEarth ScienceChapter 1.2

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

3. Identifying MineralsUse PropertiesColorMinerals display a wide variety of colors, and often the same mineral can be found in many different colorsusually not the best way to identify a mineral*** All varieties of Quartz

4. LusterThe way a mineral reflects lightThree types of mineral lusterMetallic – bright, reflectiveSubmetallic – dull, reflectiveNonmetallic - dullEarthypearlyglassysilkyresinouswaxy

5. StreakThe color of a mineral in powdered formCan be found by running the mineral against a piece of unglazed porcelain called a streak platecolor of a mineral’s streak is not always the same as the color of the mineral sampleGoldPlatinumCopper

6. Cleavage and FractureDifferent types of minerals break in different waysCleavageTendency of some minerals to break along smooth, flat surfacesFractureTendency of some minerals to break unevenly along curved or irregular surfacesExamples of cleavageExamples of fracture

7. HardnessMineral’s resistance to being scratchedscientists use Mohs hardness scale

8. Densitymeasure of how much matter is in a given amount of spaceDensity is a ratio of an object’s mass to its volumeDensity = 5.1 g/cm3Density = 19.3 g/cm3Specific Gravity : Ratio of an objects density to the density of water

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