Properties of Minerals Scientists use characteristics to tell one mineral from another.
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Transcript of Properties of Minerals Scientists use characteristics to tell one mineral from another.
Luster• Refers to the way light
reflects from the surface of the mineral.
• There are two types of luster, –Metallic: looks like polished metal.
–Nonmetallic: does not look like polished metal.
Hardness• Is measured by how easy it is to
scratch. • Geologists order the hardness by…
– Scratched by a fingernail.– Scratched by a penny. – Scratched by a nail. – Scratched by a diamond.
• These are not all of the tools geologists use, but it will work for now when we perform an experiment.
Calcite is soft, but a little harder because it cannot be
scratched by a fingernail, but it can be scratched by a
penny.
Streak• Red chalk on a chalk board
makes red marks. White chalk makes white marks.
• When some minerals are scratched along a ceramic streak plate they create different colors.
Pyrite or “Fool’s Gold”
• When pyrite is run across a streak plate, it has a black or dark green streak.
• Pyrite is not worth much money, while gold is worth a lot. They look alike, so miners call it fool’s gold.
Hematite• Hematite’s color is
grey, but its streak is red.
• “Hema” means blood.
• The mineral was named hematite because it looked like it was bleeding when it was taken across a streak plate.