How is density used to identify a mineral?

Density can be used to eliminate many minerals from your list of “possible identification”. It should not be used as the single criterion but it can a quick way to identify a fake imitation of a precious stone because coloured glass is not as dense as most gemstones. read more

In summary, density and specific gravity are properties used to help identify minerals. Density is a measure of the mass of a certain volume of the sample. Specific gravity is a unitless measure, and it is the ratio of the mass of a substance to the mass of an equal volume of water. read more

If you were a mineralogist, you would use certain properties to identify the mineral. You can observe some properties by looking at the mineral. For example, you can see that the mineral in Figure 3.12 is the color of gold and is shiny. read more