The Mohs scale was created in 1812 by Friedrich Mohs, hence its name. Friedrich Mohs was a great German geologist who came up with the idea of classifying minerals in a different way than traditionally: according to their hardness. The minerals are arranged in a list consisting of 10 components.
The first place in the ranking is for talc, the least harsh of all. The last place is occupied by diamond , considered the hardest mineral that exists. The classification is established based on how the mineral reacts to different alterations such as deformation, penetration, cutting, scratching or abrasion.
This is how the Mohs scale works to measure the hardness of minerals
Like any other scientific technique , there are a number of rules that apply to the Mohs scale to make it effective. The first and most important thing is that the value that corresponds to a certain mineral is obtained when it is compared with another.
The classification is as follows, from the least hard mineral to the hardest: talc, gypsum, calcite, fluorite, apatite, ortose, quartz, topaz, corundum and diamond . The only way to know what the hardness value of a particular mineral is through this method is by performing the test.
Now, what if a geologist wants to know what the hardness of a mineral is and does not have any element of the table to compare it? Fortunately, there is a way to find the answer. To do this, you have to use objects that, despite not being on the list, have a similar texture to those that are.
What happens if a mineral is susceptible to being scratched by a nail? It occupies level two of hardness a. If it can be scratched with a copper element, it is level three and, with a knife, level five. As for glass, the minerals that can be scratched with this material have a 5.5 level of hardness.
Since the beginning of the 19th century, many other methods have been developed to determine the hardness of minerals , although the Mohs scale continues to be widely used by geologists around the world. Other alternatives that exist are the Rosiwal scale and the Knoop scale.
