| A | B |
|---|
| mineral | naturally occurring, inorganic, solid, repeating crystal structure & definite chemical composition |
| inorganic | from nonliving things - cannot form from materials that were once part of a living thing |
| crystal | has a repeating pattern; flat sides that meet at sharp edges and corners |
| streak | the color of mineral's powder |
| luster | shinyness; how light is reflected from a mineral's surface |
| mohs hardness scale | a test to describe the hardness of minerals (1-talc to 10-diamond) |
| cleavage | mineral splits easily along flat surfaces |
| fracture | mineral breaks apart in irregular ways |
| crystallization | process in which a crystal structure forms |
| solution | a mixture in which one substance is dissolved in another |
| vein | narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different than the surrounding rock |
| ore | a rock that contains a metal or other useful mineral that can be mined |
| smelting | process in which a useful mineral is separated from the other substances in the rock |
| alloy | a solid mixture of 2 or more elements, at least one of which is a metal |
