2.1B Notes – Identifying Minerals
Goal: Be able to explain how scientists identify minerals based on 8 properties all minerals have.
The following statement has a few problems – there are 2 spelling errors, 2 punctuation errors, and a capitalization
error. Also, there is an inaccurate statement. Read it with a partner and discuss what is wrong with the statement.
After that, write a corrected statement:
A student was explaining to a teacher how to tell if a material was a mineral. the student said it had to be
inorganic and solid after thinking some more, she also said that it had to be the same elements throughout. She also
told the tacher that it could be man-made as long as it had a cristal structure
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Properties of Minerals
Color
1) Color
a) some minerals can be identified by color
alone
b) some minerals come in a variety of
colors
c) many minerals are the same color as
others
Hardness
Hardness- the ability of a mineral to resist
being scratched
1) Moh’s Hardness Scale- used to rank
minerals' hardness
a) ranges from 1-10
1) 1- softest
2) 10- hardest
2) a harder mineral will always scratch a
softer mineral
3) minerals of the same hardness will not
scratch each other
Streak
Streak- the color of the powder left behind
when rubbed against a hard surface
a) streak color does not vary like color
b) often a different color than the mineral
Luster
Luster- the way a mineral reflects light from
its surface
a) metallic luster = looks like metal
b) other lusters include glassy, earthy, waxy
pearly
Density
Densityb) never changes no matter the size of the sample
c) use a balance to determine mass
Crystal Structure
Crystal Systems
a) use of shape of crystals to determine
mineral
Cleavage /Fracture
Cleavage and Fracture
a) cleavage- mineral breaks on flat surfaces
b) fracture- mineral breaks unevenly
Special Properties
Special Properties
a) fluorescence- glows under a black light
b) magnetic
c) electric
d) bubble in the presence of acid
Complete the following paragraph using the 8 properties of minerals above:
All minerals have __8_ properties. They all have certain ____colors______, although they can share that
property with other minerals or have multiple examples for one mineral. They also have the same ____streak______
when you scratch them on porcelain because the powder left behind will be the same color. Some minerals break
evenly along flat edges, this is called ______cleavage________. However, some minerals break unevenly and along
jagged edges. This is known as _______fracture________. Earthy, glassy, metallic are some ways to describe the
mineral’s _______luster_____. If you put samples of the same mineral on a scale, they will all have the same
___density__________, even if one is bigger than the other. Some are magnetic, some glow, and some have other
____special properties_____________________ that make them unique. Finally, we rank them in order of
______hardness__________ based on how easily they are scratched.