Sosedkoite

The kinds of rock environments where the mineral typically forms — igneous, metamorphic, hydrothermal, sedimentary, pegmatitic, and so on.

The place where the mineral was first found and described — by convention, the reference point for the species.

Resistance to being scratched, ranked on the Mohs scale from 1 (talc, marked by a fingernail) to 10 (diamond, scratches everything below it). The classic field test.

Whether and how much light passes through a mineral, from transparent (you can see through it) to translucent, then opaque.

The hue of the mineral itself. Often unreliable for identification — many species occur in several colours depending on trace impurities or radiation damage.

The colour of a mineral's powder, drawn by scraping it across an unglazed porcelain plate. Far more consistent than surface colour.

The tendency to split along flat planes that match the crystal's atomic structure. Described by quality (perfect, good, poor) and direction.

Mass per unit volume, in grams per cubic centimetre. A useful sorting tool: barite is twice as dense as quartz at the same size.

Whether the mineral is isotropic (light travels at one speed in all directions, like in glass) or anisotropic — uniaxial or biaxial. Defines which optical tests apply.

The difference between the highest and lowest refractive indices. Drives the interference colours seen under crossed polarisers.

Whether an opaque mineral changes brightness or hue as the stage is rotated under crossed polarisers in reflected light. A key ore-mineral test.

A visible change in reflectance as an opaque mineral is rotated under plane-polarised reflected light. Diagnostic for ore minerals.

A general label for how an opaque mineral responds to polarised reflected light, summarising bireflectance and anisotropism together.

The percentage of incident light reflected by a polished surface, measured at standard wavelengths. The defining property of ore microscopy.

One of seven geometric families that describe a mineral's atomic symmetry: isometric (cubic), tetragonal, hexagonal, trigonal, orthorhombic, monoclinic, triclinic. Two non-crystalline classes — amorphous and icosahedral — also appear.

The lengths of the unit-cell edges (a, b, c) in ångströms — the smallest repeating box of atoms that builds the crystal.

Edge-length ratios of the unit cell, normalised so b = 1. Lets you compare related species without quoting absolute ångström values.

The number of formula units contained in a single unit cell.

The crystal habit observed at the type locality — the place where the mineral was first described.

Chemical elements that make up the mineral's ideal formula, listed by atomic symbol with their share of the total mass.

Minor or trace elements outside the ideal formula but commonly detected in natural specimens. Often the cause of colour variation.