Minerals/Gemstones WHAT IS IT?

Eqnn

Jr. Member
Nov 26, 2018
27
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Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hello I just found a box of a bunch minerals and stones and have no clue what most of them are! They could be real or pieces of colored plastic, I do not know. Here is one, I have MANY others.
orangey peach color, lightweight

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See if it can scratch glass. If it does NOT, then put a couple drops of white vinegar on it and see if it fizzes. It will take a couple minutes for the reaction to start since white vinegar is a weak acid. Looks like calcite or aragonite so far, but need to test the hardness and reactivity to acid if it's softer than glass :)
 

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It does not scratch glass and when I put a drop of white vinegar on it it bubbled a tiny bit and when I went to pick it up the part that had vinegar on it broke off into little crumbles and the orange color of it rubbed off onto my fingers. I read online that white vinegar can dissolve calcite, does this mean the piece is calcite?
 

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yep, it's aragonite. Calcite is generally more stable and wouldn't degrade that quickly from a weak acid. They're basically the same thing (calcium carbonate) but different crystal structures.
 

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