Minerals
By: Taylor shields

Hi! My name is Gem. I have just been discovered by lady scientist Taylor Shields. I am the first every gem to be found on earth. No one knows this, but my family of 1,000,000,000 lives under the surface of the earth. Oh and don’t forget about uncle Bob, so that’s 1,000,000,001. There’s more to mention but it’s too long to say.

Now I’m going to list some things about gems! Gems hardness is 8. The other name for gem is Topaz. The most valuable gems are yellow, pink, and blue varieties. Most gems are silicates which can be very stable, hard minerals.
Metallic: looks like a metal. Metallic minerals are commonly shiny and non-see threw.
Non-metallic: doesn't look like a metal. There are many subtle differences in the non-metallic luster, but most are mostly dull, and are often transparent to translucent on thin edges.
Color: Obvious, but not always definitive. Sulfur is (almost) always yellow, and there are a few others, but not many minerals have a fixed color. Small amounts of impurities an really change a mineral's color.
Streak: The color of the powdered mineral. The test is usually performed by scraping the mineral across a piece of unglazed porcelain. Streak can be definitive. Good examples include hematite (always red-brown no matter what form it's in) and chromite (distinguished from the hundreds of other black minerals by its chocolate-brown streak).
Hardness: Hardness is the resistance of a mineral to scratching. It does NOT refer to how easily the mineral is broken. Hardness is a measure of the bonding strength