Moh's Scale of Mineral Hardness



Friedrich Mohs, an Austrian mineralogist, devised a scale of mineral hardness in 1812. He used ten minerals, listed below, as standards by which to determine the hardness of minerals and other objects. These ten minerals were arranged on a scale of increasing hardness. For instance, gypsum can scratch talc, and apatite can scratch fluorite, calcite, gypsum, and talc.Your fingernail has a general hardness of 2.5, so you can scratch gypsum and talc! Diamonds are the hardest mineral in existence and are used as cutting instruments.

Moh's Scale Of Mineral Hardness
Hardness
Mineral
1
Talc
2
Gypsum
3
Calcite
4
Flourite
5
Apatite
6
Orthoclase
7
Quartz
8
Topaz
9
Corundum
10
Diamond