What are the characteristics of a mineral?
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1. it forms in nature\n2. it is a solid\n3. it has a definite chemical makeup\n4. it has a crystal structure
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depends on the mineral
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Various types of rocks have unique structural and physical properties that allow geologists to identify them.  Using remote sensing equipment, those physical properties would register as a particular reading from the machine's output.  Geologists would relate their findings to general characteristic analysis and determine the type of rock or mineral being examined.
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Minerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. The term "mineral" encompasses not only the material's chemical composition but also the mineral's structure. Minerals range in composition from pure elements and simple salts to very complex silicates with thousands of known forms (organic compounds are usually excluded). The study of minerals is called mineralogy.\n\nAn ore is a volume of rock containing components or minerals in a mode of occurrence which renders it valuable for mining. An ore must contain materials which are:\n\nvaluable \nin concentrations which can be profitably mined \nable to be extracted from waste rock by mineral processing techniques. \nOre deposits are mineral deposits defined as being economically recoverable. Mineral deposits may include those bodies of mineralisation which are uneconomic resources, of too low a grade or tonnage or technically impossible for extraction of the contained metal.\n\nWhat is valuable to mine is generally considered in terms of purely economic considerations. However, cultural, strategic or social goals of nations, tribes and individuals may render economically unfeasible bodies of rock valuable for extraction, for instance ochre, some clays and ornamental stones which are of religious, cultural or sentimental value to a population. Here, value is placed on the rock in non-economic terms.\n\nOre is thus an economic entity, not a physical entity. Fluctuations in commodity prices will determine what rock is considered valuable and hence ore, and what rock is not valuable and is considered waste. Similarly, the costs of extraction may fluctuate, for example with fuel costs, rendering mining unprofitable and turning ore into waste.\n\nThe grade or contained concentration of an ore mineral, or metal, as well as its form of occurrence, will directly affect the costs associated with mining the ore. The cost of extraction must thus be weighted against the contained metal value of the rock and a 'cut-off grade' used to define what is ore and what is waste.\n\nOre minerals are generally oxides, sulfides, silicates, or native metals that are not commonly concentrated in the Earth's crust. The ores must be processed to extract the metals of interest from the waste rock and from the ore minerals.\n\nOre bodies are formed by a variety of geological processes. The process of ore formation is called ore genesis.\n\nSome important ore minerals:\n\nArgentite\nBarite\nBeryl\nBornite\nCassiterite\nChalcocite\nChalcopyrite\nChromite\nCinnabar\nCobaltite\nColumbite-Tantalite or Coltan\nGalena\nGold\nHematite\nIlmenite\nMagnetite\nMolybdenite\nPentlandite\nScheelite\nSphalerite\nUraninite\nWolframite
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I think this is an interesting question.  Surprisingly, I think the answer is yes for some properties.  I don't have data in front of me (my books are at the office), but I'll bet that if you compare densities of homologous compounds in a group, you'd find that the density increases along with the density of the main constituent atoms.  I'll also bet that there are spectroscopic properties that are retained -- those relating to the inner shells.  In addition, there are tests used by mineralogists to detect the presence of common constituent metals in different minerals; a common example is the sodium "D" emission that causes a yellow flame in a fire when sodium is present regardless of the counterion.  In inorganic chemistry I seem to remember endless graphs of periodic properties that we used as a mnemonic device, but that was too many years ago to remember them.\n\nIf I wanted to look into it on the internet, I'd do a search on "periodic properties of the elements."  Also, geochemists are wonderful for collecting data and putting together tables of such things, and undergraduate inorganic textbooks may be helpful for finding some as well.
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A mineral can be defined as:\nsomething that is naturally occuring\nsolid\nhas an exact chemical composition\norderly arrangement of internal atoms \n\nwhen different minerals are combined that is what makes a rock. for example granite. Is made of the minerals quartz, pottassium feldspar, muscovite, plagioclase feldspar, and amphibole.
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Characteristics are Mass, Volume, Density and viscosity.\nDensity (rho)=mass/volume
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There are 5 steps to take in mineral idenfication, they are: \n\nStep 1 \nDetermine the luster (metallic or nonmetallic) of your mineral. \n\nStep2 \nDetermine the hardness of your mineral. Using a glass plate, see if the mineral scratches it. Be careful, make sure the glass is on a table, do not hold in your hand. Firmly grasp your mineral and draw it over the glass. If the mineral powders, then use your fingernail to feel if the glass is scratched. \n\nStep3 \nDetermine whether your mineral is light-colored or dark-colored (nonmetallics only). \n\nStep4 \nDetermine whether your sample has cleavage. \n\nStep5 \nYour choices have been narrowed down, using the chart see which physical properties match up with your mineral.
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To see pictures of minerals go here:\nhttp://www.mindat.org/\nAnother nice one for mineral pictures is:\nhttp://un2sg4.unige.ch/athena/mineral/images/minpic_frame0.html\n\nA good site that has rock photos grouped by igneous- metamorphic-sedimentary is here:\nhttp://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/vwlessons/lessons/Slideshow/Slideindex.html\nYuprocks has the rocks and minerals mixed on one page:\nhttp://www.yuprocks.com/mineral_pictures.shtml
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Log on to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet\n\nand check out Characteristics of magnetic materials
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I am not going to pick any of those choices because I don't believe any of those are correct, including streak. What you are describing is crystal structure, which might be related to color and streak, but since trace impurities in a mineral often determine color, and streak is nothing more than the color of a powdered form of the mineral I don't think It will be determined by atomic structure with certainty.  Most streaks are white!\n\nCleavage would be a correct answer but it was not included above. Cleavage and crystal structure are closely related properties. \n\nWhat you have described is the crystal structure. All minerals can be classified within 14 basic crystal lattice arrangements of the atoms in three dimensions. These 14 lattice arrangements fit within 7 larger crystal systems, allowing the classification of atomic structure of all known minerals.  To see diagrams of these go here:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_structure
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Ferromagnesium minerals: silicates with iron and magnesium in their formula, dark colored and dense. Example includes hornblende. \nNonferromagnesium mineral: silicates with no iron or magnesium in their formula (calcium, sodium or potassium common), light colored. Example includes feldspar.
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Calcite is the name for the mineral consisting of a form of CaCO3. It is the main constituent of limestone, a common sedimentary rock formed from the shells of creatures in ancient seabeds.
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visit  http://webmineral.com/ you can learn what you want with details from there, I sometimes use this site
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A rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids. Rocks are classified by mineral and chemical composition, by the texture of the constituent particles and by the processes that formed them. These indicators separate rocks into igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. They may also be classified according to grain size, in the case of conglomerates and breccias or in the case of individual stones.\n\nMinerals are natural compounds formed through geological processes. The term "mineral" encompasses not only the material's chemical composition, but also the mineral's structure. Minerals range in composition from pure elements and simple salts to very complex silicates with thousands of known forms (organic compounds are excluded). The study of minerals is called mineralogy.
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more than 35 different types of minerals, mainly Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Selenium, Chloride, Sulfur, Bromide and Manganese.
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appearance, color, physical state, density, heat conductivity, electrical conductivity, melting point, boiling point.