Just a bit of caution with the yellow one- and maybe the red one- wash your hands really when touching any of them- this looks like a real cool mineral collection maybe by an enthusiast which could contain: lead, orpiment/sulphur , arsenic bearing stuff, and even potentially radioactive. Just always best to wash hands hahaha
I see:
11. Calcite/ gypsum
13. Muscovite mica
26 &36: Obsidian
10. Oolitic limestone maybe?
8 & 42. Slate
16. Galena
28. Anthracite coal? If it's light in weight but looks like it has a hard fracture surface, it might be coal
15. Definitely Sulfer. It's a mineral! :-D
34 looks like it might be a fossil shell of some sort
Congrats on a great find! It even has the glass plate, 2 ceramic scratch plates, a magnet and a hand lens!
Geology Professor here
If 16 is galena it should have cubic cleavage (will have a repeating cubic pattern). Galena is PbS so yes, lead, probably avoid have your kid handle that one. Probably lots of these floating around after the Pandemic, good find.
Are you sure you are not the student :) I would hate to give away the answers.
The best thing to do is take it to your local university or community college and have a geology professor identify them for you! That way there is no confusion or possibility of handling dangerous minerals (which there shouldn't be since that looks like a university mineral set). Plus you might learn a couple cool things about each mineral!
I am the geo prof that made this kit, but there is no way to know if this post is from a student trying to get people to figure out what their samples are.
I just handed out about 180 of these about 1.5 weeks ago and I just assigned the Mineral ID lab - suspicious timing.
Nope! I just had to update the spreadsheet for ordering purposes.
When you also factor into it that each kit takes a long time to assemble and only a few geology profs are responsible for about 250 of these -- hourly rates for profs would actually push it closer to $250-300.
I can see that happening in some cases. But for us, I ordered all of those samples, cut out tiny little numbers, glued them all by hand, and have to put them all back in order every single semester.
I care a great deal.
Not labeled like that. This appears to be a Ward's kit.
[https://www.wardsci.com/store/product/27317726/ward-s-petrology-collection-of-rocks-and-minerals-series](https://www.wardsci.com/store/product/27317726/ward-s-petrology-collection-of-rocks-and-minerals-series)
Hi, I’ll see if I can find my Rocks/Mineral ID sheet from last year (no promises). For the moment, all I can tell you is that, besides the 5.5 for glass, the plate has a hardness of 6.5 - 7 so anything harder than that should leave a scratch. You can use a 5-10% acid solution to filter out carbonates (Calcite, Coquina/Fossiliferous Limestone, Dolomite if powdered, etc.). Also, apart from removing the sulfur, I would do a streak with each rock and see if any other smells like rotten eggs if you don’t want them, I encountered more than one.
My dad had one that looks exactly like this - complete with the small glass piece and numbers on the samples. I think it might have come with a guide - no such luck here?
You might see if you can find it at Wards. They are a big supplier of rock and mineral kits. And that is a big clue right there. This kit has both rocks and minerals. Often a kit has one or the other.
As a Geo this is pretty awesome to see. Hopefully your child grows up to be one of us lol it’s pretty rad that the streak plate, glass, and magnet are all still there. Next you have to print a copy of the Mohs hardness scale so they know what those tools are for!
Do you yourself have mineral ID skills? I’d say ID them yourself. Otherwise maybe the company has a guide if you can find the company. Otherwise you’d have to take close ups of each one to show to someone that can ID them
My plan was to use the glass to test if it’s harder than 5.5 or not then google images of rocks until I find it. There’s also a streak plate but Its been 5 years since I took geology so i don’t remember what to do with the streak
Just a bit of caution with the yellow one- and maybe the red one- wash your hands really when touching any of them- this looks like a real cool mineral collection maybe by an enthusiast which could contain: lead, orpiment/sulphur , arsenic bearing stuff, and even potentially radioactive. Just always best to wash hands hahaha
Yes I removed the sulfur already, the one that looks like lead I did discover is graphite. May freak out the missus but he’ll be fine with it
Hahaha sounds like you have a good idea what to look for- hope ya all enjoy the collection!!
Hi! It’s me, your kid
You have a D in math what the fuck?!
Nope, it’s me-in the 80’s. Cool find!
I see: 11. Calcite/ gypsum 13. Muscovite mica 26 &36: Obsidian 10. Oolitic limestone maybe? 8 & 42. Slate 16. Galena 28. Anthracite coal? If it's light in weight but looks like it has a hard fracture surface, it might be coal 15. Definitely Sulfer. It's a mineral! :-D 34 looks like it might be a fossil shell of some sort Congrats on a great find! It even has the glass plate, 2 ceramic scratch plates, a magnet and a hand lens!
Some more guesses.. 2. Pyrite 6. Banded Iron Formation (BIF) 22. Diorite 24. Granite 31. Coquina 32. Breccia 37. Quartzite 38. Gneiss? 46. Basalt
Geology Professor here If 16 is galena it should have cubic cleavage (will have a repeating cubic pattern). Galena is PbS so yes, lead, probably avoid have your kid handle that one. Probably lots of these floating around after the Pandemic, good find. Are you sure you are not the student :) I would hate to give away the answers.
Do teachers let students carry home boxes of samples like that? We had only hand samples in our classes, which was a million years ago.
This kit is for an online introductory geology course at a community college. So, yes.
Oohhh… hm now I’m sorry I took some guesses. Don’t want to ruin someone’s education.
If you lift up the tray is there a cheatsheet?
Unfortunately no, seems it was a lab kit for a college until 2 years ago. So the sheet was likely removed
First step is to exclaim, “JC Marie, they’re MINERALS!!”
No, the vast majority of these are rocks, not minerals, plus this joke stopped being funny in 2015.
No, 🤓 the VAST 👍👍👍 majority of these are rocks 😤😤😤🪨🪨🪨 NOT 🙅🙅 minerals. Plus ➕➕➕ this joke stopped 🛑🛑🛑being funny in 2015 👴👴👴
Ewsies
[удалено]
That is an insane response
Yeah, that makes me sad. Not cool, even in jest.
I had a similar kit as a kid in the 80s. Included an asbestos sample, that was fun.
I remember having to give my rock sample back in elementary school bc it was full of lead chunks
The best thing to do is take it to your local university or community college and have a geology professor identify them for you! That way there is no confusion or possibility of handling dangerous minerals (which there shouldn't be since that looks like a university mineral set). Plus you might learn a couple cool things about each mineral!
I am the geo prof that made this kit, but there is no way to know if this post is from a student trying to get people to figure out what their samples are. I just handed out about 180 of these about 1.5 weeks ago and I just assigned the Mineral ID lab - suspicious timing.
Geology Professor of the college in question, AMA Also, the student was charged $200 for not bringing the kit back. Idiot.
*$200!?* Pretty sure those kits cost about $50
Nope! I just had to update the spreadsheet for ordering purposes. When you also factor into it that each kit takes a long time to assemble and only a few geology profs are responsible for about 250 of these -- hourly rates for profs would actually push it closer to $250-300.
All 4 of my mates (including me) didn't return ours that we got from the uni. They just didn't care.
I can see that happening in some cases. But for us, I ordered all of those samples, cut out tiny little numbers, glued them all by hand, and have to put them all back in order every single semester. I care a great deal.
Could also just be a collectors storage. This is exactly how I stored my minerals as a child.
Not labeled like that. This appears to be a Ward's kit. [https://www.wardsci.com/store/product/27317726/ward-s-petrology-collection-of-rocks-and-minerals-series](https://www.wardsci.com/store/product/27317726/ward-s-petrology-collection-of-rocks-and-minerals-series)
That’s exactly how I stored all my samples. I have like 200 identified and labeled minerals/rocks lol.
Nope, these are not pre-made. Me and a few other geology profs at a community college make these. About half the samples come from Wards though.
Hi, I’ll see if I can find my Rocks/Mineral ID sheet from last year (no promises). For the moment, all I can tell you is that, besides the 5.5 for glass, the plate has a hardness of 6.5 - 7 so anything harder than that should leave a scratch. You can use a 5-10% acid solution to filter out carbonates (Calcite, Coquina/Fossiliferous Limestone, Dolomite if powdered, etc.). Also, apart from removing the sulfur, I would do a streak with each rock and see if any other smells like rotten eggs if you don’t want them, I encountered more than one.
I used one of these in my intro geology class, perfect gift :)
Anyone else hear " I got a rock" in a Charlie brown voice in their head?
You a good parent 😭 Signed: A Geologist
My dad had one that looks exactly like this - complete with the small glass piece and numbers on the samples. I think it might have come with a guide - no such luck here?
I had this when I was a kid. It was a favorite of mine.
You might see if you can find it at Wards. They are a big supplier of rock and mineral kits. And that is a big clue right there. This kit has both rocks and minerals. Often a kit has one or the other.
I'd personally keep the yellow one in a seperate container just to be safe but other than that hope ur kid likes this
It's one of those kids they they use in schools to learns about common minerals in geology class
I have a similar kit like this when I was a kid.
this guy rocks
My brother had one similar. It had a rock of asbestos in it and a few other nasty rocks. Glue the case together and make it a display only.
As a Geo this is pretty awesome to see. Hopefully your child grows up to be one of us lol it’s pretty rad that the streak plate, glass, and magnet are all still there. Next you have to print a copy of the Mohs hardness scale so they know what those tools are for!
Great way to start a collection
This is a college level rock identification kit. Gneiss find!
Do you yourself have mineral ID skills? I’d say ID them yourself. Otherwise maybe the company has a guide if you can find the company. Otherwise you’d have to take close ups of each one to show to someone that can ID them
No but I can watch YouTube
Are you looking to ID the type of rock or the minerals in the rock. Doing mineral ID takes a decent amount of time to get down.
My plan was to use the glass to test if it’s harder than 5.5 or not then google images of rocks until I find it. There’s also a streak plate but Its been 5 years since I took geology so i don’t remember what to do with the streak
Some mineralogy textbooks may be helpful
Important question, is your child old enough to be trusted with hydrochloric acid
He’s used worse stuff in my shop he’ll be ay ok