Final answer:
An important physical property of a mineral is its color, which is determined by impurities in its chemical composition. Streak, the color of a mineral in powdered form, is another important property. The wavelength of light is also important in determining the color and appearance of a mineral sample.
Step-by-step explanation:
An important physical property of a mineral is the color of the mineral. The color of a mineral is determined by small impurities in its chemical composition. However, the same mineral can come in various colors, so color alone is not a diagnostic property for most minerals.
Another important property is the streak of a mineral. Streak is the color of a mineral in powdered form, which can be observed by scratching the mineral across a ceramic streak plate. Streak can be different from the mineral color because impurities in the mineral do not significantly affect the absorption of light in powdered form.
Lastly, an important property of light waves is the wavelength. The wavelength of light is the distance between one peak of a wave and the next peak. Different minerals can reflect different wavelengths of light, which contributes to the overall color and appearance of the mineral sample.