What is it called when a mineral breaks unevenly?
The uneven breakage of a mineral is called fracture. Some minerals break evenly and cleanly along a specific plane of the crystal.
When a mineral breaks and has rough or irregular surfaces?
Fracture
What is an advantage and a disadvantage to using color to identify a mineral?
What is an advantage and a disadvantage to using color to identify a mineral? Advantage- it’s easily observed; disadvantage- many minerals come in a variety of colors, so few can be identified by color alone. A mineral with a hardness of 6 will scratch a mineral with a hardness of (less/more) than 6.
What is the measure of how easily a mineral can be scratched?
Mohs hardness, rough measure of the resistance of a smooth surface to scratching or abrasion, expressed in terms of a scale devised (1812) by the German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs. The Mohs hardness of a mineral is determined by observing whether its surface is scratched by a substance of known or defined hardness.
What can scratch a diamond?
There is nothing that can scratch a diamond except another diamond. A mineral like talc, on the other hand, is a 1 on the scale. You could scratch it with any hard material, even your fingernail. Natural talc is one of the softest minerals in the world.
Which of the following minerals is the hardest?
Diamond
Which mineral is most easily scratched?
In 1812, a man named Fredrich Mohs invented a scale of hardness called Mohs Scale which is still used today. He selected ten standard minerals, and arranged them in order of increasing hardness. Talc is the softest and diamond is the hardest. Each mineral can scratch only those below it on the scale.
What is the strongest mineral on Earth?
Diamond is the hardest known natural mineral according to the Mohs scale. Its hardness depends on its purity, and the hardest diamond can only be scratched by other diamonds.
What mineral is not scratched by a fingernail?
Mineral Hardness Test Video
| Mineral | Hardness |
|---|---|
| Gypsum | |
| SOFT Mineral can be scratched with a fingernail | |
| Pink Feldspar | |
| HARD Mineral cannot be scratched with a steel nail. | |
What mineral can be scratched with a fingernail?
Hardness
| mineral | Mohs hardness | observations on the minerals |
|---|---|---|
| gypsum | 2 | can be scratched by the fingernail |
| calcite | 3 | very easily scratched with a knife and just scratched with a copper coin |
| fluorite | 4 | very easily scratched with a knife but not as easily as calcite |
| apatite | 5 | scratched with a knife with difficulty |
Can Topaz be scratched by a fingernail?
The numbers on the scale classify minerals only by their hardness. That is, topaz is harder than quartz, which is harder than feldspar. Substances with a hardness of 2 or less may be scratched by a fingernail.
Can a fingernail scratch Muscovite?
If not, it is harder. A fingernail has hardness about 2.5, a copper penny 3, a steel knife blade about 5.5, glass between 6 and 7, depending on quality. Muscovite, one of the mica family of minerals, is considerably softer at hardness about 2.5. So fluorite would scratch muscovite, but not vice versa.
Can graphite be scratched with a fingernail?
Your fingernail is a 2, a pocket knife is about a 5-6, and a piece of glass is a 6-7….Mohs Hardness Scale.
| 1 | Talc Graphite | Can be scratched with a fingernail and by any stone rated 2+ |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Calcite Celestite Barite | Can be scratched with a knife and any stone rated 4+ |
Can fluorite be scratched by a fingernail?
A minerals rating on the hardness scale is determined by a scratch test. Since Fluorite is a 4 on the scale it means that fluorite can scratch all the minerals below it but not be scratched by them. Also if a penny can scratch a mineral it rates a 3, a fingernail is 2.5, knife blade 5.5, glass 5.5 and steel file 6.5.
Can Garnet be scratched with a fingernail?
(Can be scratched by a steel pocket knife. Will scratch a fingernail and a copper coin.) Orthoclase is a feldspar, and in German, “feld” means “field”. (Will not scratch glass but will scratch steel blades, copper coins & fingernails.)…
| Mohs Substance | Hardness |
|---|---|
| Quartz | 8 |
| Topaz | 9 |
| Garnet | 10 |
| Fused zirconia | 11 |
What mineral leaves a yellow streak and can be scratched with a fingernail?
Galena
What would happen if you rubbed a piece of fluorite against a piece of feldspar?
What would happen if you rubbed a piece of fluorite against a piece of feldspar? The fluorite would be scratched but the feldspar would not be scratched.
Which mineral has the same hardness as a fingernail?
Gypsum