Contributor: Kaitlyn Zimmerman. Lesson ID: 12508
Did you know that some minerals are magnetic, even though they do not look like a magnet? You can conduct an investigation to see which ones truly are magnetic ... and which ones are simply imposters!
Pictured above is a mineral known as magnetite.
Tiny magnetic filings are sticking to the rock!
As you learned in the previous Related Lesson, found in the right-hand sidebar, minerals can be either very hard, very soft, or somewhere in-between.
It is important to know how hard or soft a mineral is when using it in an object or tool because it will affect how the object is used and how it works.
So far in this Minerals series, you have seen that you can identify different types of minerals by conducting a streak test to find the color of a mineral's streaks, or a hardness test to see how hard or soft the minerals are. In this lesson, you will be conducting a magnetism test to see which minerals are magnetic!
There are many things in the world that are magnetic, such as a screw, a paperclip, a mailbox, and even a fire hydrant.
By performing a magnetism test, you will see that minerals can indeed be magnetic. It's time to check in with Flo to see what she has to say about magnetic minerals:
Continue on to the Got It? section to think about what Flo was up to!