PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

OF MINERALS

Physical Properties of Minerals

Crystal Habits
Hardness
Cleavage
Fracture
Tenacity

Luster
Colour
Streak
Specific Gravity

HABITS OF MINERALS

Habit is the general appearance

a mineral tends to have
whether it is found as blocky
crystals, long slender ones, or
aggregates of some type, etc.

HARDNESS
The measure of a mineral to resist
scratching.
Represents the strength of bonds
in the crystal structure.
Measured on a qualitative scale
called Mohs Hardness Scale.

CLEAVAGE
The tendency of a mineral to
break along a plane of weakness in
the crystal structure.
Produces flat, shiny surface.
Described by number of planes
and their angles.

FRACTURE
Tendency of a mineral to break
unevenly along curved or irregular
surfaces.
The way a mineral breaks when it
does not yield along cleavage or
parting surfaces.
The mineral breaks in no
consistent manner.

Types of Fracture
Conchoidal Fracture breaks along
smooth curved surfaces.
Fibrous and Splinterysimilar to the
way wood breaks.
Hackly jagged fractures with sharp
edges.
Uneven or Irregularrough irregular
surfaces.

Obsidian, a volcanic glass

and
quartz,
commonly
exhibit
conchoidal
fracture, which is why
Indians used them as cutting
tools

TENACITY
The resistance that a mineral
offers to breaking, crushing, or
bending.
Cohesiveness of a mineral.

Types of Tenacity
Brittlenessability to break or powder easily.
Malleabilityability to be hammered out into
thin sheets.
Sectilitycan be cut into thin shavings with a
knife.
Ductilityability to be drawn into wires.
Flexibilitybends somewhat and does not
return to its original shape.
Elasticitycan be bent and return to its original
shape upon release of pressure.

LUSTER
The way a minerals surface
scatters light.
General appearance of a mineral
surface to reflected light.

Types of Luster
Metallic Lusterlooks shiny like a
metal.
~ Opaque to light
~ Has black or very dark streak
Non-mettalic Lustergenerally
light coloured and transmits light.
~ Colourless to very light coloured

Metallic
Luster

Non-metallic
Luster

COLOR
Results in minerals when certain
wavelengths of light are absorbed.
Results from the combination of
those wavelengths that reach the
eye.
If light suffers no absorption, the
mineral is colourless.

Colors in Minerals
Idiochromatic Minerals self-colored
due to their composition. The color is a
constant and predictable component of
the mineral.

Blue Azurite

Red Cinnabar

Green Malachite

Colors in Minerals
Allochromatic
Minerals
other
colored due to trace impurities in their
composition or defects in their structure.
The color is a variable and unpredictable
property of the mineral.

Amazonite

Rose Quartz

Heliodor (Yellow Beryl)

Colors in Minerals
Pseudochromatic
Minerals
false
colored due to tricks in light diffraction.
Color is variable but a unique property of
mineral.

Opal

Labradorite

STREAK
The colour of the pulverized
powder of mineral.
More consistent than colour.
Found by scraping a mineral
against a porcelain plate.

SPECIFIC GRAVITY
The weight of a mineral compared
to a comparable amount of water.
For identifying minerals in lab, or
in the field, it is really only
necessary to recognize whether
the mineral is light, medium, or
heavy (i.e., low specific gravity,
average specific gravity, high
specific gravity). This is sometimes
referred to as heft.