EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The streak test is done by scraping a specimen of the mineral across a piece of unglazed porcelain known as a “streak plate.” This can produce a small amount of powdered mineral on the surface of the plate. The powder color of that mineral known as its “streak."

Detailed explanation-2: -An unglazed piece of porcelain, such as a tile, used to test the characteristic streak of minerals by rubbing the mineral across the tile. Streak plates have a hardness of about 6.5 on the Mohs scale and cannot be used for testing harder minerals.

Detailed explanation-3: -Streak is simply the color of a mineral powder. Many minerals have a different color when powdered than they do in crystal or massive forms. The color may be entirely different, or it may be a different shade. Quite a few minerals give a powder streak that is lighter in color than the whole crystal or massive pieces.

Detailed explanation-4: -Streak. Streak is the color of the powdered mineral, which is usually more useful for identification than the color of the whole mineral sample. Rubbing the mineral on a streak plate will produce a streak.

Detailed explanation-5: -Streak is the color of the mineral wher finely powdered; it may or may not be the same color as the mineral. Streak is more helpful for identifying minerals with metal-lic lusters, because those with nonmetallic lusters generally have a colorless or light-colored streak that is not very diagnostic.