How to Identify Minerals

If you are ever confused as to which mineral is in front of you, there are a few simple tests you can do (provided you have the materials) to determine the name of said mineral. They are as follows:

Color- What color the mineral is. Normally this is not extremely useful because minerals can have some slight color changes or come in more than one color.

Streak- The streak is the color left behind when the mineral is rubbed against a porcelain tablet. This can be different than the color, but is more useful because the streak does not change colors. The streak can be instrumental in telling the difference between one or more minerals, such as gold and pyrite which have many of the same characteristics except for streak, of which gold is yellow and pyrite is black.

Luster- This is how shiny the mineral appears. The mineral's luster can be qualified as follows: subvitreous (less brilliant than glass), vitreous (as brilliant as glass), admantine (as bright as diamond), resinous (having the appearance of resin on the mineral), earthy (no shine on surface, usually covered in earthy material such as soil), greasy (shiny as if covered with oil), pearly (iridescent), and silky (having a texture similar to silk).

Hardness- This is how hard the mineral is according to the Mohs Hardness Scale, which is a serious of tests that involve the mineral scratching them and giving them a number based on what they can and cannot scratch. It is a 1-10 scale with 1 being the softest, talc and 10 being the hardest, diamond.

Cleavage- This is how easily the mineral breaks apart. It is divided into perfect (breaking into even sheets), good (breaking into sheets, not even), and poor (not really breaking into sheets, just sort of fracturing)

Magnetism- This is seeing if a mineral reacts to having a magnet placed by it. The only one we tested that showed a reaction was magnetite.

Acid Reaction- This test involves putting a drop of hydrochloric acid onto the mineral and seeing if it reacts. Only calcite reacted.

Taste- How the minerals taste. We didn't do this in lab, but from what we were told, only halite has a taste (salty) because it is rock salt.