Abstract

This report is devoted to laboratory session of geology course. To be precise,

during the session students were given 25 minerals to identify its physical properties:
hardness, luster, cleavage, fracture and streak. All of these properties, will then help
students identify the specific mineral. On top of that, further investigation should present
a result, such as knowledge of where this particular mineral can be formed (geological
environment) and various types of rocks that may contain this mineral. Some of the
specimen were difficult to identify, either due to beginner knowledge of students or poor
sample condition.
Introduction
A sufficient part of geology is mineralogy. According to Merriam-Webster dictionary
mineralogy is a science dealing with minerals, their crystallography, properties,
classification, and the ways of distinguishing them. Going deep, minerals are inorganic
compounds with constant characteristics that comprise various types of rocks. They are
present in metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks. This particular laboratory
experiment was designed to help students in studying identification of the minerals,
according to their characteristics. This report, in turn, consists of theoretical background,
results found during experiment, its analysis (discussion) and conclusion. On top of that
in this report you may find information about geological environment of some minerals
identified it this lab, and various rock types that contain such minerals.
Theoretical Background
This part will present terms which were used for mineral identification. To identify
the exact mineral student must follow instruction steps. This graph illustrates all steps in
mineral distinguishing:

Figure 1. Chart for mineral identification

Luster is an important characteristic which defines the reflectiveness of light by
a mineral. It is either metallic or non-metallic, depending whether it is shiny (metallic) or
glassy (non-metallic).

Hardness is a property, which demonstrates the resistance of surface of the

mineral to scratching. There is a specific scale, which defines the hardness of a material
called Mohs harndess scale. The idea is that a hardness of a material is identified
against hardness of previously known ones.

Figure 2. Mohs hardness scale

Cleavage is a property which describes how minerals planar features develop
throughout the entire body. An irregular breakage of the mineral would mean that it has
fracture, whereas smooth surface of breakage and clearly distinguishable planes is a
demonstration of cleavage. It should be mentioned that cleavage has to be differentiated
from crystal face, due to presence of growth lines, and having mirror like look of the
latter.
Streak is a property to determine which it is needed to investigate the color of
the powder of a mineral. It should be noticed that color of a powder is far more
sufficient than actual color of mineral, because single mineral may hugely vary in color.
Reference list:

Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2016, from merriamwebster.com