[originaltext]M: Want to go out and get something to eat?W: I can’t. I have a

M: Want to go out and get something to eat?
W: I can’t. I have a chemistry midterm on Monday and a German exam on Tuesday.
M: I have a geology exam Monday myself, but I think I’m ready for it.
W: What kind of exam is it going to be—multiple choice or essay?
M: Neither. The professor is going to give us a mineral sample and we have to identify it.
W: How do you do that? I mean, a rock’s a rock, isn’t it?
M: Actually, there are a lot of tests you can perform on minerals to help you figure out what they are. Probably the first tests I’ll do are scratch tests. When you do a scratch test, you rub the sample on a known mineral to see if the unknown mineral scratches the known mineral or vice versa. That tells you the relative hardness of the sample.
W: What other tests will you do?
M: I’ll probably do a streak test next. In that test, you rub an unknown mineral against a piece of china to see what color the streak is.
W: Why can’t you just look at the mineral to see what color it is?
M: Well, you can, but sometimes a mineral has some other substance in it, and the substance can change its color. But a streak test shows the mineral’s true color. Then there’s always the specific gravity test, the blowpipe test...oh, and...
W: And after you’ve done all these tests, you can positively identify any mineral?
M: Well, usually...but not always. I just hope I can on Monday!