Which of the following is a quantitative property of minerals?
A.Cleavage
B.Hardness
C.Luster
D.Streak
I'm thing Cleavage or Hardness but i'm not sure can someone help?
I meant thinking and nevermind I figured it out:] BTW i'm not as clueless as my name says.Lol!
Sure! I can help you understand which of the options - Cleavage, Hardness, Luster, or Streak - is a quantitative property of minerals.
To determine which property is quantitative, we need to understand what each term means.
Cleavage: Cleavage refers to the way a mineral breaks along flat surfaces. It is the tendency of a mineral to split along specific planes of weakness. Cleavage is described using terms like perfect, good, imperfect, or poor. However, cleavage is not a quantitative property as it does not involve direct measurement.
Hardness: Hardness is defined as the resistance of a mineral to scratching. It is determined using the Mohs Hardness Scale, which ranks minerals from 1 (softest) to 10 (hardest). Each mineral is compared to a known mineral of a specific hardness level. For example, if a mineral can be scratched by gypsum but not by calcite, it has a hardness between 2 and 3. Since hardness is directly measured and expressed on a numerical scale, it is a quantitative property.
Luster: Luster refers to how light is reflected from the surface of a mineral. It describes the appearance of a mineral's surface and is often described as metallic or non-metallic. However, luster is not a quantitative property as it is subjective and cannot be directly measured.
Streak: Streak is the color of the powdered form of a mineral when it is scraped across a surface. It often differs from the color of the mineral itself. However, similar to cleavage, streak is not a quantitative property as it does not involve direct measurement.
Based on these explanations, the correct answer is B. Hardness. It is the only option that represents a quantitative property as it involves direct measurement and is expressed numerically on the Mohs Hardness Scale.