Step-by-step explanation:
Color, luster, and hardness are some of the physical properties that geologists use to identify minerals. However, these properties alone are not sufficient to identify most minerals. For instance, color can be misleading as different minerals can have the same color. Luster, which refers to the way a mineral reflects light, can be used to differentiate between metallic and non-metallic minerals. Hardness is a measure of how resistant a mineral is to scratching and is useful in identifying minerals with similar colors and lusters. Other physical properties such as cleavage, fracture, crystal habit, and specific gravity are also used to identify minerals. Therefore, it is important to use multiple physical properties when identifying minerals to avoid inaccurate conclusions.