The external shape (habit) of well-developed crystals can be visually studied and classified according to the various crystal systems that span the 32 crystal classes. The majority of crystal occurrences, however, are not part of well-formed single crystals but are found as crystals grown together in aggregates. Examples of some descriptive terms for such aggregations are given here: granular, an intergrowth of mineral grains of approximately the same size; lamellar, flat, platelike individuals arranged in layers; bladed, elongated crystals flattened like a knife blade; fibrous, an aggregate of slender fibres, parallel or radiating; acicular, slender, needlelike crystals; radiating, individuals forming starlike or circular groups; globular, radiating individuals forming small spherical or hemispherical groups; dendritic, in slender divergent branches, somewhat plantlike; mammillary, large smoothly rounded, masses resembling mammae, formed by radiating crystals; botryoidal, globular forms resembling a bunch of grapes; colloform, spherical forms composed of radiating individuals without regard to size (this includes botryoidal, reniform, and mammillary forms); stalactitic, pendant cylinders or cones resembling icicles; concentric, roughly spherical layers arranged about a common centre, as in agate and in geodes; geode, a partially filled rock cavity lined by mineral material (geodes may be banded as in agate owing to successive depositions of material, and the inner surface is often covered with projecting crystals); and oolitic, an assemblage consisting of small spheres.

Cleavage and fracture

Both these properties represent the reaction of a mineral to an external force. Cleavage is breakage along planar surfaces, which are parallel to possible external faces on the crystal. It results from the tendency of some minerals to split in certain directions that are structurally weaker than others. Some crystals exhibit well-developed cleavage, as seen by the planar cleavage in mica; perfect cleavage of this sort is characterized by smooth, shiny surfaces. In other minerals, such as quartz, cleavage is absent. Quality and direction are the general characteristics used to describe cleavage. Quality is expressed as perfect, good, fair, and so forth; cleavage directions of a crystal are consistent with its overall symmetry.

Some crystals do not usually break in any particular direction, reflecting roughly equal bond strengths throughout the crystal structure. Breakage in such minerals is known as fracture. The term conchoidal is used to describe fracture with smooth, curved surfaces that resemble the interior of a seashell; it is commonly observed in quartz and glass. Splintery fracture is breakage into elongated fragments like splinters of wood, while hackly fracture is breakage along jagged surfaces.

Lustre

The term lustre refers to the general appearance of a mineral surface in reflected light. The main types of lustre, metallic and nonmetallic, are distinguished easily by the human eye after some practice, but the difference between them cannot be quantified and is rather difficult to describe. Metallic refers to the lustre of an untarnished metallic surface such as gold, silver, copper, or steel. These materials are opaque to light; none passes through even at thin edges. Pyrite (FeS₂), chalcopyrite (CuFeS₂), and galena (PbS) are common minerals that have metallic lustre. Nonmetallic lustre is generally exhibited by light-coloured minerals that transmit light, either through thick portions or at least through their edges. The following terms are used to distinguish the lustre of nonmetallic minerals: vitreous, having the lustre of a piece of broken glass (this is commonly seen in quartz and many other nonmetallic minerals); resinous, having the lustre of a piece of resin (this is common in sphalerite [ZnS]); pearly, having the lustre of mother-of-pearl (i.e., an iridescent pearl-like lustre characteristic of mineral surfaces that are parallel to well-developed cleavage planes; the cleavage surface of talc [Mg₃Si₄O₁₀(OH)₂] may show pearly lustre); greasy, having the appearance of being covered with a thin layer of oil (such lustre results from the scattering of light by a microscopically rough surface; some nepheline [(Na, K)AlSiO₄] and milky quartz may exhibit this); silky, descriptive of the lustre of a skein of silk or a piece of satin and characteristic of some minerals in fibrous aggregates (examples are fibrous gypsum [CaSO₄ ∙ 2H₂O], known as satin spar, and chrysotile asbestos [Mg₃Si₂O₅(OH)₄]); and adamantine, having the brilliant lustre of diamond, exhibited by minerals with a high refractive index comparable to diamond and which as such refract light as strongly as the latter (examples are cerussite [PbCO₃] and anglesite [PbSO₄]).

Colour

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Minerals occur in a great variety of colours. Because colour varies not only from one mineral to another but also within the same mineral (or mineral group), the observer must learn in which minerals it is a constant property and can thus be relied on as a distinguishing criterion. Most minerals that have a metallic lustre vary little in colour, but nonmetallic minerals can demonstrate wide variance. Although the colour of a freshly broken surface of a metallic mineral is often highly diagnostic, this same mineral may become tarnished with time. Such a tarnish may dull minerals such as galena (PbS), which has a bright bluish lead-gray colour on a fresh surface but may become dull upon long exposure to air. Bornite (Cu₅FeS₄), which on a freshly broken surface has a brownish bronze colour, may be so highly tarnished on an older surface that it shows variegated purples and blues; hence, it is called peacock ore. In other words, in the identification of minerals with a metallic lustre, it is important for the observer to have a freshly broken surface for accurate determination of colour.

A few minerals with nonmetallic lustre display a constant colour that can be used as a truly diagnostic property. Examples are malachite, which is green; azurite, which is blue; rhodonite, which is pink; turquoise, which gives its name to the colour turquoise, a greenish blue to blue-green; and sulfur, which is yellow. Many nonmetallic minerals have a relatively narrow range of colours, although some have an unusually wide range. Members of the plagioclase feldspar series range from almost pure white in albite through light gray to darker gray toward the anorthite end-member. Most common garnets show various shades of red to red-brown to brown. Members of the monoclinic pyroxene group range from almost white in pure diopside to light green in diopside containing a small amount of iron as a substitute for magnesium in the structure through dark green in hedenbergite to almost black in many augites. Members of the orthopyroxene series (enstatite to orthoferrosilite) range from light beige to darker brown. On the other hand, tourmaline may show many colours (red, blue, green, brown, and black) as well as distinct colour zonation, from colourless through pink to green, within a single crystal. Similarly, numerous gem minerals such as corundum, beryl, and quartz occur in many colours; the gemstones cut from them are given varietal names. In short, in nonmetallic minerals of various kinds, colour is a helpful, though not a truly diagnostic (and therefore unique), property.