Earth's Minerals (Book)

Imagine you were given a mineral sample similar to the one shown in Figure. How would you try to identify your mineral? You can observe some properties by looking at the mineral. For example, you can see that its color is beige. The mineral has a rose-like structure. But you can't see all mineral properties. You need to do simple tests to determine some properties. One common one is how hard the mineral is. You can use a mineral’s properties to identify it. The mineral’s physical properties are determined by its chemical composition and crystal structure.

You can use properties of a mineral to identify it. The color and rose-like structure of this mineral mean that it is gypsum.