Anton found the following mineral and wanted to classify it. Describe this mineral's properties for: Lustre, colour, streak, fracture and hardness. (5 marks)

When classifying a mineral, it's important to observe and describe its physical properties. Below are the properties you should consider for the mineral Anton found:

1. Lustre:

   • This property describes how the mineral reflects light. Common types of lustre include metallic, glassy, pearly, silky, and dull. Determine if the mineral has a shiny appearance (metallic or glassy) or a more muted one (dull or earthy).

2. Colour:

   • The color of the mineral can vary based on impurities and conditions of formation. Note the primary color of the mineral, but also be aware that color alone can be misleading for identification purposes.

3. Streak:

   • This is the color of the powder left behind when the mineral is scratched across a streak plate (a piece of unglazed porcelain). The streak can sometimes be more reliable than the surface color.

4. Fracture:

   • Fracture describes how a mineral breaks when it is not along a plane of cleavage. Observe whether the mineral exhibits a conchoidal (smooth curved surfaces) or uneven fracture, which indicates how the mineral might break under stress.

5. Hardness:

   • This is measured on Mohs scale which ranges from 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond). To assess hardness, you can perform scratch tests against known minerals; for example, if it can be scratched by a fingernail (hardness ~2.5), it is softer than that.

By describing each of these properties of the mineral Anton found, a clearer classification can be made, which may help in identifying the mineral type.