| A | B |
|---|
| MINERALS | A naturally occurring, inorganic solid that has a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition. |
| INORGANIC | Not formed from living things or the remains of living things. |
| CRYSTAL | A solid in which the atoms are arranged in a pattern that repeats again and again. |
| ELEMENT | A substance composed of a single kind of atom. |
| COMPOUND | A substance in which two or more elements are chemically joined. |
| MIXTURE | Two or more substances that are mixed together but not chemically combined. |
| MOHS HARDNESS SCALE | A scale ranking ten minerals from softest to hardest; used in testing the hardness of minerals. |
| STREAK | The color of a mineral's powder. |
| LUSTER | The way a mineral reflects light from its surface. |
| DENSITY | The amount of mass in a given space; mass per unit volume. |
| CLEAVAGE | A mineral's ability to split easily along flat surfaces. |
| FRACTURE | The way a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way. |
| FLUORESCENCE | The property of a mineral in which the mineral glows under ultraviolet light. |
| MAGMA | The molten mixture of rock-forming substance, gases, and water that makes up part of Earth's mantle. |
| LAVA | Magma that reaches the surface; also the rock formed when liquid lava hardens. |
| SOLUTION | A mixture in which one substance is dissolved in another. |
| VEIN | A narrow slab of a mineral that is sharply different from the surrounding rock. |
| GEMSTONE | A hard, colorful mineral that has a brilliant or glassy luster. |
| ORE | Rock that contains a metal or economically useful mineral. |
| SMELTING | The process by which ore is melted to separate the useful metal from other elements. |
| ALLOY | A solid mixture of two or more metals. |
