Admin Table of Contents
What is the most unreliable way to identify a mineral?
Fluorite is one mineral with many colors. It can be purple, blue, white, or any shade in between these. Quartz can also be clear, white, pink or dark colored. The variety of colors in most minerals makes color a very unreliable test for identifying minerals.
What is not useful in identifying minerals?
Which mineral property is the least useful for identifying minerals, and why? -Streak is the least useful property for identification because it does not work for minerals with metallic lusters.
What is another reason that color is unreliable in identifying minerals?
Generally, color alone is not the best tool in identification because color can be highly variable. Some minerals can occur in a variety of different colors due to impurities in the chemical makeup of the mineral.
Which of the following properties is the most unreliable for classifying minerals?
Color. The most obvious property of a mineral, its color, is unfortunately also the least diagnostic.
The physical properties of minerals are related to their chemical composition and bonding. Some characteristics, such as a mineral’s hardness, are more useful for mineral identification. Color is readily observable and certainly obvious, but it is usually less reliable than other physical properties.
How are color and luster used to identify minerals?
Describe how color, luster, and streak are used to identify minerals. Explain how the hardness of a mineral is measured. Identify additional properties that can be used to identify some minerals. Minerals can be identified by their physical characteristics. The physical properties of minerals are related to their chemical composition and bonding.
What do geologists look for in a mineral?
Of all these, only a few hundred are considered common. To help with identification, geologists must look closely at the physical properties of a mineral. These properties can include: color, streak, hardness, cleavage, specific gravity, crystal form, and others.
How is a streak test used to identify a mineral?
A streak test is accomplished by rubbing the mineral on a porcelain plate, also known as a streak plate. The color of the streak left by the mineral is sometimes different from the color of the mineral itself. A streak test comes in handy when identifying minerals such as hematite.