Minerals Lab: 03/09/2021

For this activity my classmates and I used several tools to better identify different types of minerals. We were able to use the materials listed below to determine crystal form, luster, streak, hardness, and cleavage. 

Materials:

HCL

Nail

Penny

Magnifying glass

Glass plate 

Granite plate

Hardness chart

Crystal form helped us determine what shape each individual crystal was inside the mineral. Luster allowed us to determine the appearance of the mineral reflected in light. An example of this would be metallic or nonmetallic. A streak was simply what color the mineral left behind when dragged across a surface. Hardness was determined by what could scratch the mineral. For example we would scratch the mineral with a nail, if it left a mark we would know the mineral was softer than the nail. Finally we tested for cleavage, to do this we had to try and figure out if a particular mineral would fracture when split or break evenly. 

Photos of the minerals and materials used:




Chart used to determine identity of minerals:



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