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Materials Testing

HARDNESS LABORATORY

Mho's Hardness Tester

Mhos hardness testing of a mineral is one of the most diagnostic and easy tests to perform in the attempt to identify an unknown mineral. Hardness in this context is a measure of a mineral's resistance to abrasion and reflects the atomic structure of a mineral.

Mhos hardness is identified numerically from 1 (softest) to 10 (hardest). A mineral of a given hardness will scratch a mineral of a lower number.

Standard minerals and their values for Mhos hardness are:

  • Talc (1)
  • Gypsum (2)
  • Calcite (3)
  • Fluorite (4)
  • Apatite (5)
  • Orthoclase (6)
  • Quartz (7)
  • Topaz (8)
  • Corundum (9)
  • Diamond (10)

Index of Hardness Laboratory
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