1. Minerals

2. Fracture
Fracture is the tendency of a mineral to break along curved surfaces without a definite shape. These minerals do not have planes of weakness and break irregularly

3. Cleavage
Cleavage is the tendency of a mineral to break along smooth planes parallel to zones of weak bonding

4. Luster
Adamantine - very gemmy crystals
Dull - just a non-reflective surface of any kind
Earthy - the look of dirt or dried mud
Fibrous - the look of fibers
Greasy - the look of grease
Gumdrop - the look a sucked on hard candy
Metallic - the look of metals
Pearly - the look of a pearl
Pitchy - the look of tar
Resinous - the look of resins such as dried glue or chewing gum
Silky - the look of silk, similar to fibrous but more compact
Submetallic - a poor metallic luster, opaque but reflecting little light
Vitreous - the most common luster, it simply means the look of glass
Waxy - the look of wax
Luster is a description of the way light interacts with the surface of a crystal. This is how you would tell someone how a mineral looks. It has nothing to do with color or shape, but is related to transparency , surface conditions, crystal habit and index of refraction.
Vitreous Dull Resinous Adamantine Metallic Silky

5. Streak
The streak of a mineral is the color it displays in finely powdered form. The streak maybe completely different from the color of the hand specimen. One of the simpliest ways of determining the strak of a mineral is to rub a specimen across a piece of unglazed porcelain known as a streak plate
Magnetite – Black Streak
Amphibole – grey/green streak
Hematite – red/brown streak

6. Hardness HardnessMineralTest 1 Talc Fingernail (2.5) 2 Gypsum
3 Calcite Copper coin (3)
4 Flourite Knife blade (5.5)
5 Apatite Glass plate (5.5+)
6 K-feldspar 
7 Quartz Streak plate (7)
8 Topaz 
9 Corundum 
10 Diamond 

7. Vesicular texture
Glassy texture
Texture
Minerals may be rough, like sand, others may be smooth or chalky. Run your fingers on the rock. What does it feel like.
rough & crystalline texture
Pegmatitic Texture – big grains

8. Specific Gravity
Density or specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a substance to the weight of an equal volume of water.
Density = Weight/Volume

9. Crystal System
Crystal shape can be helpful in identification. Most minerals have a crystalline structure and can form perfect crystals if allowed to grow in an unrestricted space. Crystal faces resemble cleavage faces because they are flat and reflect light as a single plane, but they are different from cleavage surfaces because crystals have complex geometric shapes. Perfect crystals are rare and are seldom encountered.

10. Crystal System 2 CRYSTAL SYSTEM - AXES LENGTHS - AXIAL ANGLES
CUBIC All equal All 90
TETRAGONAL a=b not = c all 90
HEXAGONAL two are equal are 90, one 120
ORTHORHOMBIC all unequal all are 90
MONOCLINIC all unequal two are 90
TRICLINIC all unequal none are 90
Isometric
Monoclinic
Hexagonal
Orthorhombic
Triclinic
Tetragonal

11. Color Quartz Quartz Quartz Quartz Malachite Pyrite Olivine Limonite
Minerals have the same chemical composition but small variations of the quantity and distribution of some elements will give the same mineral different colors.
Quartz Quartz Quartz Quartz
Malachite Pyrite Olivine Limonite

15. Mineral Silicate
Rock Luster
Crystal Streak
Gem Hardness
Ruby Moh’s Scale
Diamond Cleavage
Sapphire Fracture
Fossil Ore
Crystal System Texture
Specific Gravity Emerald

16. Mini-Poster Mineral Silicate Luster Crystal Streak Gem Hardness
Moh’s Scale
Cleavage
Fracture
Fossil Ore
Crystal System Texture
Specific Gravity