Answer to Question 1
Answer: First, I would examine the color and luster of the crystals to narrow it down a bit. I would find the different masses of the minerals to determine their density and compare them to other specimens in textbooks. This would narrow my search down even more. Then, I would conduct the scratch test on the various minerals, scratching one another and ranking them in order, then comparing them to the Mohs Hardness Scale. After, I would examine the cleave of the mineral, and compare that to known minerals' cleaves. Last, I would find the streak of the minerals, and at this point, the minerals should be identified.
Answer to Question 2
Answer: energy