| A | B |
|---|
| mineral | a naturally occurring, inorganic solid with a crystal structure and a definite chemical composition |
| naturally occurring | made by nature; not man-made |
| inorganic | not living; not from living things |
| solid | state of matter with definite shape and definite volume |
| crystal structure | particles arranged in a pattern |
| definite chemical composition | always made of the same elements |
| color | the color of the mineral |
| streak | the color of the streak left behind when a mineral is scratched across a porcelain tile |
| luster | the way a mineral reflects light |
| hardness | how easy or hard it is to scratch a mineral; measured on Moh's hardness scale from 1-10 (10 = hardest) |
| density | the amount of mass in a certain volume |
| cleavage and fracture | the way a mineral breaks in certain ways |
| crystal system | the geometric shape of the crystals in a mineral |
| special properties | properties that are unique to a specific mineral and help identify that mineral |
