How to know the Minerals

1
How to know the Minerals

• Pages 47 - 51

2
Identifying Minerals by inspection

• Color
• Least reliable classification
• Many minerals have many colors
• Quartz

3
Identifying Minerals by inspection

• Luster
• Way a mineral reflects light
• Metallic
• Looks like metal
• Non-Metallic
• Does not look like metal

4
Identifying Minerals by inspection

• Crystal Shape
• Enough time to cool distinct crystals
• Forms crystal faces
• Crystal Plane is the smooth plane that makes it
  look like a crystal

5
Identification by simple tests

• Streak
• Mark on streak plate
• Color of minerals powder

6
Identification by simple tests

• Cleavage
• How the mineral splits or breaks into flat pieces
• Cleavage plane is the plane where the mineral
  breaks making a smooth surface
• If no cleavage Fracture

7
Identification by simple tests

• Hardness
• Resistance to being scratched
• Mohs hardness scale
• Hardest 10 diamond
• Softens 1 talc

8
Identification by simple tests

• Specific Gravity
• Density
• Large specific gravity
• Sink
• Small specific gravity
• float

9
Identification by simple tests

• Misc Tests
• HCl
• Fizzes on calcite
• Taste
• halite
• Radioactivity
• uranium
• Splitting light rays
• calcite