| A | B |
|---|
| Minerals | inorganic, solid materials found in nature |
| Rocks | a substance made of two or more minerals |
| Crystal | solid materials that have a pattern of atoms |
| Precipitation | process where dissolved minerals separate and form a crystal |
| Cleavage | characteristic where minerals break along smooth, regular planes |
| Fracture | characteristic where minerals break into pieces with rough or jagged edges |
| Color | an unreliable characteristic to use to identify a mineral |
| Streak | characteristic color of a powedered mineral |
| Luster | characteristic of how a mineral reflects light |
| Hardness | characteristc of how one mineral can or can't scratch another mineral |
| Mohs scale | a scale used to determine the hardness of a mineral |
| Specific Gravity | comparison of the weight of a mineral to an equal volume of water |
| Gems | rare minerals that can be cut and polished |
| Ore | a mineral that contains enough of a useful substance to be considered valuable |
| Diamond | the hardest mineral (10 on Mohs scale) |
| Talc | the softest mineral (1 on Mohs scale) |
| Halite | the mineral name for rock salt |
