Welcome to Mesa College Geology Courses

Prelab Exercise                                      Name:______________________________________                             

Laboratory 3: Mineral Properties, Uses, and Identification

Please read pages 47-59 in your lab manual, then answer the following questions:

How are minerals defined? 

Please list six different mineral properties useful for identifying minerals in hand specimen.

 Please briefly define the following terms:

·        Hardness: 

·        Cleavage: 

·        Fracture: 

·        Luster: 

·        Streak: 

What is the crystal form of the quartz crystal in Figure 3.1A?  Use Figure 3.3 as a guide. 

An unknown mineral can be scratched by a knife blade but not by a wire (iron) nail

(use Fig. 3.8 for reference): 

·        Is this mineral    hard   or    soft    (circle correct answer).

·        The Mohs hardness of this mineral is: _____________________

·        What mineral has this hardness on the Mohs scale? __________________ 

A mineral has a mass of 27 grams and a volume of 10.4 cm³.  The specific gravity of this mineral is:___________________.