what physical properties are used in the identifications of minerals?

Answer 1

http://www.iun.edu/~cpanhd/C101webnotes/matter-and-energy/properties.html
"color, smell, freezing point, boiling point, melting point, infra-red spectrum, attraction (paramagnetic) or repulsion (diamagnetic) to magnets, opacity, viscosity and density. There are many more examples. Note that measuring each of these properties will not alter the basic nature of the substance."

Answer 2

Rock/mineral types are classified in three major groups: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. To best identify minerals is by color (but don't always go by color because most minerals look the same, it is not the best way), luster is it shinier, dull etc.., sometimes taste halite taste really salty while their is a rock that looks like halite but does not have a taste, Some rocks are florescent under a black light, do a scratch test can you scratch the mineral by your fingernail or do you need to use a nail, cleavage, a bead test, putting acid on a rock if it fizzes it is a limestone of some sort, streak test. The list goes on and on!

Answer 3

There's one which nobody else seems to have mentioned, and that is streak. A piece of the mineral is rubbed on the a piece of unglazed porcelain tile (the back of a tile) and the color of the resultant powdered mineral streak is examined. This can be surprisingly different from the color of the mineral in bulk form.

The streak color of many minerals is listed in guidebooks to rocks and minerals, and this is a quick and easy means of field identification of mineral specimens. Talk to a rockhound or mineral collecting hobbyist for more information.

Answer 4

Colour, density, crystal structure, refractivity, density, Chemical nature etc.

Answer 5

colour, lustre, hardness, specific weight, fracture, cleavage among others