Ask Dr. Jay
If you have any questions about the course, feel free to ask the author of the book! You have to register in order to ask questions, but registration is free, and we won’t share your information with anyone.

Links for the Third Chapter

Rocks versus Minerals
This video discusses how rocks are made of minerals.

Mineral Color and Streak
This video discusses the color of a mineral and how its streak is a better indicator of what the mineral is.

Mineral Luster
This video goes through many minerals, discussing many different kinds of luster. It’s more than you need to know, but it gives you a great idea of how to identify lusters.

Mineral Cleavage and Fracture
This video goes through many minerals, discussing their cleavage and fracture.

Mineral Cleavage and Fracture
This video goes through hardness tests on many minerals. For the penny, he looks at scratches on the penny, but that just means the mineral is harder than the penny if it scratches the penny. In this course, we look for scratches on the mineral, which says the mineral is softer than the penny.

Brackets in Chemical Equations
This video shows you how to deal with parentheses (she calls them “brackets”) in chemical equations. There is also a cute kitten at the beginning.

Mineral Formation
This video goes through the three basic ways minerals form.

Gemstone Cutting
In this video, a gem cutter walks you through his process. You see the natural stone and then you see the cutting process and what results.