1.
chemical property: a property of matter that describes a substance's ability to participate in chemical reactions- for example, the ability to burn or reactivity to acids
2.
cleavage: a property of minerals in that they split into pieces with smooth regular planes
3.
crystals: solid materials that have their atoms arranged in a repeating pattern
4.
fracture: a property of minerals in that they break into pieces with jagged or rough edges
5.
gem: rare, valuable mineral that can be cut and polished
6.
hardness: a measure of a mineral's ability to scratch or be scratched by another mineral
7.
luster: describes how light reflects from a mineral's surface
8.
minerals: natural, solid materials found on Earth that are the building blocks of rock
9.
Mohs Hardness Scale: a scale ranking ten minerals from softest to hardest; used in testing the hardness of minerals
10.
ores: minerals that are mined because they contain useful metals or nonmetals.
11.
physical property: a characteristic that can be observed or measured without changing the identity of the substance- for example, hardness, luster, color, texture, the way a mineral splits, or density
12.
rock: a solid material made up of one or more minerals
13.
specific gravity: ratio of a mineral's weight compared with the weight of an equal volume of water
14.
streak: color of a mineral's powder left behind when rubbed across a white tile