calciteA clear piece makes one line look like two. This double image is seen best in the clear kind called Iceland spar. Calcite also fizzes in weak acid, and a knife scratches it easily.
galenaHeavy, silver-gray cubes; the main source of lead. It breaks along flat faces into smaller cubes and has a metallic shine.
graphiteSo soft that it rubs off on paper as a dark line. Its name comes from the Greek word for to write, and it is the core of a pencil.
gypsumThe white mineral in drywall and classroom chalk. It is 2 on the Mohs scale, and plaster is made from it too.
haliteRock salt, the salt we eat, in clear cubes. It is the natural form of sodium chloride, and its crystals are cubes, most often colorless or white.
hematiteNamed for blood: its powder is always red. A piece may look black, silver-gray or red-brown, but the powder it leaves on a streak plate is rust red. It is an ore of iron.
Show all 36 minerals (30 more)
Most common, continued
magnetiteIt clings to a magnet. It is black, an ore of iron and one of the very few minerals a magnet attracts. Lodestone, one kind of magnetite, is a natural magnet itself.
muscoviteClear flakes once used as window panes. A mica: it splits into very thin, springy sheets. The name comes from Muscovy glass, after its use in the windows of medieval Russia.
pyriteBrittle, brass-yellow cubes mistaken for gold. That is why people call it fool's gold. The faces of the cubes often carry fine parallel lines.
quartzGlassy six-sided crystals with pointed ends. It is 7 on the Mohs scale, hard enough to scratch a glass plate, and one of the most common minerals in Earth's crust.
sulfurLemon-yellow crystals that burn with a blue flame. Sulfur is a chemical element that occurs as a mineral on its own.
talcThe softest mineral, with a greasy feel. A fingernail scratches it with ease, and its streak is white.
Metals and ores 12
bariteWhite, yet strangely heavy for its size. Its other name is heavy spar. White color and high density are how it is told from other pale minerals.
boraxLeft behind when seasonal lakes dry up. It forms in layers as the water of a seasonal lake evaporates again and again.
borniteCalled peacock ore for its purple tarnish. Fresh bornite is copper red to bronze brown; in air it takes on an iridescent tarnish. It is an ore of copper.
cassiteriteThe chief ore of tin since ancient times. It is still the most important source of tin today.
celestineNamed for its sky-blue tint; holds strontium. The name comes from the Latin for celestial. It is a main source of strontium, which is used in fireworks.
chalcopyriteThe most abundant ore mineral of copper. It is brassy to golden yellow, so it can be taken for pyrite or for gold.
dolomiteFizzes in acid only after it is powdered. Calcite fizzes at once in cold dilute acid; a lump of dolomite does not.
goethiteBrown iron ore with a yellow-brown streak. The piece itself runs from yellowish to dark brown or black.
lepidoliteA pink to purple mica that holds lithium. Like other micas it splits into thin flakes. It is a secondary source of lithium.
platinumA whitish metal that never corrodes. It is dense and silverish white. Because it reacts with so little, it is often found pure, as native platinum.
rhodochrositeRose-red and often banded; holds manganese. It is a carbonate of manganese. Pure pieces are rose red; others are pink, brown or gray.
silverA white metal that tarnishes to black. Native silver is silver-white where freshly exposed and darkens in air.
Surprises 12
aragoniteThe mineral of nearly all mollusk shells. It is calcium carbonate, like calcite, in another crystal form. Corals build their skeletons of it too.
cryoliteSmall clear bits nearly vanish in water. It bends light almost exactly as water does, so the edges of a clear piece disappear.
diamondPure carbon, harder than every other mineral. It stands at 10, the top of the Mohs scale, and is most often yellow, brown or gray to colorless.
fluoriteOften glows under ultraviolet light. The word fluorescence comes from its name. It is 4 on the Mohs scale and may be purple, green, yellow or blue.
iceFrozen water, a mineral that melts in a warm room. Water ice is natural, solid and crystalline, so it counts as a mineral. Liquid water does not.
kyaniteBlue blades, harder across than along. Its hardness is 4.5 to 5 along the blade and 6.5 to 7 across it.
labradoriteGray until turned, then it flashes blue or green. The flash of color has a name of its own, labradorescence.
serpentineGreen and scaly looking, named for snakes. The name comes from the Latin for snake-like. Serpentine is a group of minerals.
sodaliteRoyal blue, often with white veins. It is rarely found as separate crystals.
stauroliteTwin crystals that often form a cross. The name comes from the Greek words for cross and stone.
ulexiteTV rock: its fibers carry a picture to its top. The natural fibers work like optical fibers. A polished slice shows on its upper face whatever lies under it.
zirconIts oldest grains are 4.4 billion years old. Zircon grains from Western Australia are the oldest minerals dated on Earth so far.
How this list was compiled: List chosen for this site on 2026-10-16. Each property is written in our own words and was checked that day against the article on the mineral in the English Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/), whose text is under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license: Quartz (the six-sided prism), Calcite and Iceland spar (double refraction), Halite, Magnetite, Talc, Graphite (the name), Pyrite, Muscovite (Muscovy glass), Gypsum (drywall, blackboard and sidewalk chalk), Sulfur (the blue flame), Galena, Hematite (the name and the streak), Native silver, Platinum, Bornite, Chalcopyrite, Cassiterite, Goethite, Baryte, Celestine (mineral), Lepidolite, Borax, Dolomite (mineral), Rhodochrosite, Ice and Mineral (water ice is a mineral), Ulexite, Cryolite, Kyanite (the two hardnesses), Staurolite, Labradorite, Zircon (4.404 billion years), Aragonite, Fluorite, Diamond, Serpentine subgroup and Sodalite; and, for the answers under the tool, Mohs scale and Mineraloid. A second reading for the common minerals and the scale: the U.S. National Park Service pages Minerals (https://www.nps.gov/subjects/geology/minerals.htm: the five marks of a mineral, the list of physical properties, quartz, the micas, calcite, talc and fluorite) and Mohs Hardness Scale (https://www.nps.gov/articles/mohs-hardness-scale.htm: the ten minerals and the hardness of a fingernail, a copper penny, a knife or glass plate and a steel nail); and the U.S. Geological Survey, What is the difference between a rock and a mineral? (https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-difference-between-rock-and-mineral). The minerals of the second and third sets rest on their Wikipedia articles alone. Licence: own work
How it works
This properties of minerals worksheet lists quartz, calcite, halite, magnetite, talc, graphite, pyrite, muscovite, gypsum, sulfur, galena and hematite beside twelve properties in mixed order: one clings to a magnet, one is the softest, one is mistaken for gold.
Read the full guide
The Mohs scale, from talc to diamond
Hardness is ranked against ten minerals: talc 1, gypsum 2, calcite 3, fluorite 4, apatite 5, orthoclase 6, quartz 7, topaz 8, corundum 9, diamond 10. A harder mineral scratches a softer one. Six of the ten are on these sheets.
Two more sets
Set also has Metals and ores (silver, platinum, bornite, chalcopyrite, cassiterite, goethite, barite, celestine, lepidolite, borax, dolomite, rhodochrosite) and Surprises (ice, ulexite, cryolite, kyanite, staurolite, labradorite, zircon, aragonite, fluorite, diamond, serpentine, sodalite).
Halite is the salt we eat, but nobody tastes a classroom sample: the sheet asks for the match, not the test.
Questions and answers
What are the properties of minerals?
Color, streak, luster, hardness, cleavage, fracture, crystal shape and how heavy a piece feels for its size. Most of those words are a set to match on the rock cycle vocabulary worksheet. Some minerals add one of their own: magnetite clings to a magnet.
How do you test the hardness of a mineral?
Scratch it with things of known hardness. On the Mohs scale a fingernail is about 2.5, a copper penny 3.5, a knife or glass plate 5.5 and a steel nail 6.5. Whichever leaves a scratch is the harder.
Is there a properties of minerals worksheet for 4th grade?
The sheet prints no grade. The set it opens on, Most common, keeps to things a pupil can see or picture: a magnet, a pencil line, window panes, classroom chalk, cubes of salt.
Is ice a mineral?
Yes. Ice forms in nature, is solid and has an orderly crystal structure, which is what makes a mineral. Liquid water is not a mineral, and neither is obsidian, a natural glass with no crystals.