This document discusses the physical properties used to identify minerals, including: - Color, luster, streak, cleavage, fracture, hardness, crystal shape, taste, magnetism, and reaction to acid. - Color is the easiest property to observe but least reliable, while streak is more reliable for identification. - Luster describes how a mineral reflects light, with metallic and non-metallic types. - Cleavage is the tendency to split in particular directions, like mica's "sheety" cleavage. - Fracture describes how minerals break other than along crystal faces or cleavage planes.