Author Question: What differentiates cleavage from fracture? What will be an ideal ... (Read 139 times)

imowrer · **on:** Jul 14, 2018

What differentiates cleavage from fracture?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Why is color not always a useful property in mineral identification? Give an example of a mineral that supports your answer.

What will be an ideal response?

jaymee143 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 14, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Cleavage is a natural break along a plane of weak bonding within a mineral's crystal structure. Cleavage will result in smaller pieces of the mineral, all with the same geometry as the original crystal. Fracture is a break that results from a mineral having relatively equal strength bonds in all directions that make up its crystal form. Consequently, all the products of fracture are different and irregular or conchoidal shapes.

Answer to Question 2

Color is frequently not a diagnostic property for mineral identification because tiny impurities in the mineral's chemical composition can influence or dramatically change the mineral's color. Fluorite, for example, can be yellow, clear, blue, or purple.