Luster
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Luster
"Luster" refers to the way a mineral reflects light. For example, a mineral like quartz reflects light in a way similar to glass - it has a "vitreous" luster. "Vitreous" is a word related to glass, so a mineral with a vitreous luster will reflect light kind of the way a piece of glass will. Gold or pyrite (fool's gold) has a metallic luster, it reflects light the way normal, everyday metallic objects do. "Greasy" or "earthy" are also lusters. Minerals have typical lusters associated with them - a minerals that looks like a lump of dirt (an "earthy" luster) won't be quartz, since we already know quartz has a vitreous luster.
Hint: even if a mineral looks like a piece of glass, don't say the luster is "glassy." In geology, glassy has a whole different meaning, related to rock texture, not mineral luster!
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