Talc

Hardness

Answer: Mass and size are properties not commonly used to identify minerals.

Silicate minerals comprise approximately 90% of the Earth’s crust. Other important mineral groups include the native elements, sulfides, oxides, halides, carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates.

Answer: Being able to identify minerals is important, because mineral identification is necessary to identify rocks and can be used to understand both the landscape and the geologic history of the area.

Most minerals, however, are usually white or colorless in a pure state. Many impurities can color these minerals and make their color variable. The property of streak often demonstrates the true or inherent color of a mineral.

The colors of metals or alloys are used as standards for describing the color of ore minerals: tin white (arsenopyrite), steel gray (molybdenite), brass yellow (chalcopyrite), and copper red (native copper).

Twelve types of color in minerals

Like all objects, a mineral’s color depends upon which wavelengths of light it absorbs and reflects. The atomic bonds within a mineral generally determine which wavelengths of light will be absorbed and which will be reflected. Those wavelengths that are reflected back to our eyes determine the color of the mineral.

With the exception of gray and black, which mostly results from partially decayed organic matter, most rock colors are the result of iron staining. Ferric iron (Fe+3) produces red, purple, and yellow colors (from minerals like hematite and limonite).

2 Answers. The reason minerals like quarts and diamonds vary in color is generally caused by the chemical elements involved while the crystal is being formed. Different colors can be created by different chemicals. Amethyst for example has traces of iron built into its crystalline structure giving it a purple hue.

The term luster refers to the appearance of a fresh surface of a mineral in reflected light. The two basic types of luster are metallic and non-metallic.

Luster is the property of minerals that shows how much or how well the mineral reflects light. Luster may also be spelled lustre. Luster has two main categories: Metallic and Non-metallic. Non-metallic, or sub-metallic luster includes waxy, pearly, silky, vitreous, greasy, resinous, dull, and adamantine.

Minerals with a lesser (but still relatively high) degree of lustre are referred to as subadamantine, with some examples being garnet and corundum.

• Dull lustre. Kaolinite.
• Greasy lustre. Moss opal.
• Metallic lustre. Pyrite.
• Pearly lustre. Muscovite.
• Resinous lustre. Amber.
• Silky lustre.
• Submetallic lustre.
• Vitreous lustre.

Economic uses of minerals: Above were the most common uses of minerals. Other applications are – used in constructing building, developing weapons for defence, machinery, making of jewellery, synthesizing fertilizers etc. This was a brief on uses of minerals in our daily life.

As you can see, diamond is a 10 on the Mohs Hardness Scale. Diamond is the hardest mineral; no other mineral can scratch a diamond. Quartz is a 7. It can be scratched by topaz, corundum, and diamond….Mohs Hardness Scale.