How Can I Tell What Crystal I Have

Do you lot have a crystal that y'all would like to test to see if it is real or fake? Or do yous have a crystal that you lot can't identify? The good news is that there are several ways to test crystals yourself, and you lot don't demand to buy expensive equipment!

Detect how to test and identify crystals at home

Create your own crystal test kit

Fluorite

Putting together your ain crystal test kit is really easy and you should exist able to find virtually of these items around your habitation. A simple kit consists of a:

solid piece of glass (aka a glass plate)
your fingernail
unglazed white porcelain tile (aka a streak plate)
unglazed black porcelain tile (aka a streak plate)
copper coin
magnet
steel nail or file
magnifying glass
knife

To get a improve thought of what a crystal test kit could wait similar, visit our Mohs scale of hardness folio.

Identify crystals by color

Assorted raw crystals

Now before you go effectually scratching or burning your unabridged crystal drove, grab a crystal book that lists crystals in gild of colour (The Encyclopedia of Crystals by Judy Hall and The Crystal Healer Volumes 1 and 2 past Philip Permutt are nifty books for this). Let's say you have a pink crystal and you can't remember if it is a Pink Mangano Calcite, Rose Quartz, Rhodonite or Pink Opal ... Compare your crystal against all the pink crystals in the book (or search for pink crystals on google and compare your crystal to the images online). This is often a quick way to place what crystal you accept. Other not-harmful tests include a magnifying glass to get a closer look at patterns, or a magnet to exam for magnetic crystals.

Identify and test crystals using the Mohs calibration of hardness

Raw Blueish Calcite

You might be wondering what a fingernail or a piece of glass has to exercise with testing crystals ... These are all tools that you can employ to examination the hardness of a crystal using the Mohs scale of hardness.

Mohs' hardness is a term meaning 'scratch hardness' which was introduced by German mineralogist Friedrich Mohs in 1812. Mohs created a system whereby minerals were tested to their hardness with a pointed object, with 1 being the softest (eg Talc which will be scratched by a fingernail) and 10 existence the hardest (eg Diamond which is the hardest mineral on the scale and won't be scratched by softer crystals).

Y'all can as well utilize your ain crystals, for example if yous take a Apatite crystal (Apatite rates every bit a 5), yous tin apply this to scratch other crystals to see if they are softer or harder than your Apatite. Manifestly don't perform whatsoever of the scratch tests if you don't want to harm your crystal (or cull an inconspicuous place to examination).

Examples are:

Yous could take a Clear Quartz crystal that you are unsure whether it is 18-carat Clear Quartz or if it is a fake crystal made out of drinking glass. Testing the hardness of the crystal volition shortly reveal what you lot have ... Clear Quartz will scratch drinking glass all the same glass cannot scratch a Clear Quartz crystal.
You lot are unsure if you have a piece of Calcite or a slice of Selenite. For this test you would apply a fingernail as a fingernail is rated every bit a 2-ii.v on the Mohs calibration and will be able to scratch Selenite which is rated every bit a 2. Whereas a fingernail won't be able to scratch Calcite as Calcite is stronger than a fingernail and is rated every bit a iii on the Mohs calibration.

Identify crystals with streak tests

Raw Hematite

Some other mode to test crystals is past doing a streak test - this is done by using either the unglazed white porcelain tile or the unglazed blackness porcelain tile. Some crystals leave a very telling streak of colour on the tile (the powder of the crushed mineral) which will help you lot to identify what information technology actually is. Examples are:

Hematite, which can look grayness, argent, red, brown or black, will leave a reddish color on the tile.
Fluorite, which tin can exist light-green, royal, blue, yellow, articulate, or a combination of these colours, will exit a white streak on the tile.
Pyrite, which looks very similar to Golden, will leave a black streak when tested, whereas Gold will leave a yellow streak on the tile.
Calcite, which can be pink, blue, green, xanthous, red, orangish or articulate, will always produce a white streak, no matter what actual colour the crystal is.
If you are unsure if you accept Lapis Lazuli or Sodalite, Lapis Lazuli will leave a blue streak whereas Sodalite will leave a white streak.

How to tell if your crystals take been dyed

Dyed Blueish Howlite

You tin can test if your crystals take been dyed by:

Dabbing nail polish remover on a cotton fiber bud and wiping this on the crystal. If the cotton wool bud has color on it from the crystal, and the crystal at present has a paler spot, then you probably have a dyed crystal.
Scratching the crystal with something that is loftier on the Mohs scale (make sure you scratch with a cloth college than what the crystal to test is). The crystal that you are testing should scratch easily and you will be able to see the real colour underneath.

How to tell if your crystals are plastic

Amber

You can exam whether you lot have a existent crystal or if it has been made from plastic by performing a hot needle test. When using this method it is a proficient idea to push the contrary terminate of the needle into a piece of cork, that way you have something to concord onto without burning your fingers. For example:

Turquoise will melt if information technology is plastic, if the Turquoise is real it volition burn down.
Genuine Bister will odour slightly of pino.

Keep learning about crystals

If you'd like to find out more than dyed crystals read our blog How to Spot False Crystals or accept a await at some of our other blogs where nosotros encompass topics such every bit Shining the Light on Obsidian, Crystal Shapes, Which Shape is for you? or How to Balance Your Chakras.

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Source: https://www.crystalsrock.com.au/blogs/crystals-rock-blog/testing-and-identifying-crystals-at-home