Minerals Study Guide
Name __________________________________
Standard S6CS2 Students will use standard safety practices for all classroom laboratory and field
investigations.
Safety in Science:
What three senses do you not use when working with an unknown substance?
Know five basic safety rules for laboratory investigations.
Standard S6E5b. Investigate the contribution of minerals to rock composition.
Use your Minerals Crossword to study vocabulary words:
Solid
Luster
Inorganic
Density
Naturally occurring
Hardness
Crystal structure
Crystal systems
Definite chemical composition
Cleavage
Color
Fracture
Streak
Tenacity
Know the five basic characteristics for defining a mineral (remember your flip book)
Be able to name some special properties of minerals
Be able to identify a mineral based on its properties:
Mineral
Color
Streak
Pyrite
Gold
Silver
Yellow
Yellow
Silver
Galena
Quartz
Lead gray
White,
colorless,
other colors
Light green,
yellow, purple
Colorless,
white
Colorless
Fluorite
Calcite
Halite
Luster
Hardness
Density
(g/cm3)
Greenish
Yellow
Silver to light
gray
Lead gray
White
Metallic
Metallic
Metallic
6-6.5
2.5-3
2.5-3
5.0
19.3
10.0
Metallic
Glassy
2.5
7
7.4
2.6
Colorless
Glassy
4
3.0
White to
grayish
White
Glassy
3
2.7
Glassy
2.5
2.1
-How is gold different from pyrite?
-What tests could you use to tell the difference between gold and pyrite?
-Of the metallic minerals given, which is the densest?
-Which of the glassy minerals given could scratch all of the others?
-You find a glassy mineral that is light green. You think it may be fluorite, but you know that quartz is
one of the most abundant minerals and can be found in different colors. How could you tell which
mineral?