1. Why is color alone rarely very useful for identifying minerals?

One reason is that different samples of the same mineral may vary in color. For example,
different samples of quartz may be colorless (clear) or purple. Purple quartz contains tiny
amounts of iron that give it its color. Many minerals are colored by chemical impurities in this
way. Another reason that color alone may not be very useful is that different minerals may be
the same color. For example, both gold and pyrite (“fool’s gold”) are yellowish gold in color, but
the two are different minerals.
2. What is a streak, and how can you check a mineral’s streak? Why is streak more useful than
color for identifying minerals?
Streak is the color of a mineral’s powder. To check a mineral’s streak, scrape a piece of the
mineral across an unglazed porcelain plate. Streak is a more reliable property than color for
mineral identification because a given mineral’s streak does not vary. Even minerals that are the
same color difference in the color of their streak. For example, gold has a golden-yellow streak,
whereas pyrite has a blackish streak. Streak cannot be used to identify all minerals because not
all minerals leave a streak of powder when scraped across unglazed porcelain. Quartz is an
example of a mineral that does not have a streak.
3. What is luster? Outline how minerals are classified on the basis of luster.

Luster describes how light reflects off a mineral’s surface. Mineralogists have special terms to
describe luster. First, they divide all minerals into those with metallic luster and those with non-
metallic luster. Minerals with metallic luster are opaque and shiny. Pyrite is an example. All
other minerals have non-metallic luster. There are six different types of non-metallic luster,
including adamantine luster, which appears sparkly. Diamond has an adamantine luster. Other
types of non-metallic luster are earthy luster, which appears dull and clay-like; pearly luster,
which appears pearl-like; resinous luster, which appears resin-like, as in tree resin; silky luster,
which appears soft looking with long fibers; and vitreous luster, which appears glassy.