What mineral breaks with a smooth edge?
Christopher Davis
Updated on April 10, 2026
Chapter 3 Terms (Minerals)
| A | B |
|---|---|
| cleavage | when minerals break along smooth, flat surfaces |
| fracture | when minerals break with rough or jagged edges |
| gem | highly prized minerals because they are rare and beautiful |
| ore | a mineral that contains a useful substance that can be mined for a profit |
What is a smooth break in a mineral called?
Cleavage is the tendency of a mineral to break along smooth planes parallel to zones of weak bonding.
What is a mineral fracture?
Fracture, in mineralogy, appearance of a surface broken in directions other than along cleavage planes.
When a mineral breaks will it form smooth?
Cleavage is the tendency of a mineral to break along certain planes to make smooth surfaces. Halite breaks between layers of sodium and chlorine to form cubes with smooth surfaces (Figure 6).
What is the hardest mineral on the Mohs scale?
diamond
In 1812, a man named Fredrich Mohs invented a scale of hardness called Mohs Scale which is still used today. He selected ten standard minerals, and arranged them in order of increasing hardness. Talc is the softest and diamond is the hardest.
How does mineral break apart in an irregular way?
A mineral that splits easily along flat surfaces has the property called cleavage. Most minerals do not split apart evenly. Instead, they have a characteristic type of fracture, which describes how a mineral looks when it breaks apart in an irregular way.
How do you know if a mineral has cleavage?
If the crystal splits cleanly and smoothly along a flat plane the break is called cleavage. If the break does not show flat planes, we simply call it fracture.
What is an example of mineral fracture?
Uneven – A fracture that leaves a rough or irregular surface. Hackly – A hackly fracture resembles broken metal, with rough, jagged, points. True metals exhibit this fracture….Minerals.
| Scale | Mineral | common household item (with a fixed hardness) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Talc | |
| 2 | Gypsum | fingernail (2 ½) |
| 3 | Calcite | copper penny (3) |
| 4 | Fluorite |
What is the toughest mineral on Earth?
Diamond
Hard – cannot be scratched by a knife but can scratch glass, Mohs’ 6-9; Diamond is the hardest known mineral, Mohs’ 10.
What is the tendency of a mineral to break?
The tendency of a mineral to break along certain planes to make smooth surfaces. crystal A solid in which all the atoms are arranged in a regular, repeating pattern.
What causes a mineral to have rough edges?
Fracture The physical property of a mineral that causes it to break with rough or jagged edges. Silicates Large group of minerals that contains silicon and oxygen.
What makes a mineral have a smooth surface?
The tendency of a mineral to break along certain planes to make smooth surfaces. A solid in which all the atoms are arranged in a regular, repeating pattern. The amount of matter in a certain amount of space; mass divided by volume. (mineralogy) The way a mineral breaks when it is not broken along a cleavage plane.
How is the streak of a mineral determined?
A mineral’s streak is the color it has when ground to a powder. Some minerals that occur in a range of colors always have the same streak. As a result, streak is considered a more stable indicator than the color of the solid rock. While most minerals have a white streak, a few well-known minerals can be identified by the color of their streak.
