I have a question on diamond characteristics ...?

Question

Your teacher has given you two minerals that you have never seen before, garnet and hematite. She has not told you which is which and has asked you to identify them. They are the same color. Aside from color, describe at least four of the physical characteristics that you could use to identify the minerals and explain how they would differ for each characteristic.

Answer 1

a garnet can be translucent to transparent, sometimes opaque with a vitreous or resinous lustre.

hematite is a silvery, shiny opaque stone that almost looks like metal

Answer 2

Hematites most (or one of the most) significant physical characteristic is it's red streak.  Scratching hematite on a surface harder then it will produce a red dust (which is actually the source of the redness on Mars.)  Garnet is also harder then hematite.  Also, hematite is a little more dense then garnet.