1. Properties of Minerals

2. What is a mineral? Minerals are a naturally occurring solid that are found in the rocks and soil of earth. Rocks are made out of minerals. There are only a few dozen minerals that make up most of the rocks on earth

3. How can we tell one mineral from another? Color Luster Hardness Streak Cleavage (shape)

4. Color Many minerals are different colors which make them easy to tell apart, however, many also share colors which means color alone is not reliable.

7. Luster Luster describes the way light reflects from the minerals surface. Glassy means it shines like glass, earthy is chalky and dull, metallic looks like polished metal, or it can be described as pearly or silky

8. Hardness Some minerals are harder than others The Mohs scale is used to tell how hard a mineral is. Minerals are ranked from 1-10. You can tell hardness by scratching the mineral with something.

9. Streak Streak is the color of a mineral in its powder form. To see the streak you rub the mineral on a white surface (usually a streak plate)This produces a line of powder that is different from the color of the mineral. If the hardness of the mineral is 7 or greater the streak test may not be reliable.

10. Cleavage (shape) When a mineral is broken it may form patterns. They may appear as cubes, diamonds, or other shapes. Some have no shape at all and just appear jagged.