It is a fundamental and critical step of identifying a mineral to observe the shape, color, luster and transparency. What we observe is mainly about the mineral’ physical properties.

 

 

 

Touching a mineral by hand can help you learn about their physical characteristics, including the crystal face, crystal grain, cleavage, parting and fracture. Through touching, you can identify some types of minerals.

 

The hardness of minerals reflects their strength against the external power. When identified by eyes, it mainly refers to a mineral’s resistance to scratching. The degree of hardness is mainly determined by the strength of the binding forces of atoms, ions or molecules within a mineral. 

 

Through weighing minerals by hands can help estimate the specific gravity of the crystals. The specific gravity is the density of a mineral and one of the most important parameters for mineral identification.