Hardness, resistance of a mineral to scratching, described relative to a standard such as the Mohs hardness scale. Hardness is an important diagnostic property in mineral identification. There is a general link between hardness and chemical composition (via crystal structure); thus, most hydrous minerals, halides, carbonates, sulfates, and phosphates are relatively soft; most sulfides are relatively soft (two exceptions being marcasite and pyrite); and most anhydrous oxides and silicates are hard.
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mineral: HardnessHardness (H) is the resistance of a mineral to scratching. It is a property by which minerals may be described relative to a standard scale of 10 minerals known as the Mohs scale of hardness. The minerals that make up the Mohs scale are…
radiation: Crystal-lattice effectsHardness and ductility depend on perfection of the crystal structure. It is thus found that irradiation results in a loss of ductility and an increase in hardness. Such effects are attributed to glide-plane obstruction in the crystal. Most structured materials become harder, less ductile, and…
metallurgy: Testing mechanical propertiesThe hardness of a metal can be measured in several ways. If a hard indenter (a sphere, cone, or pyramid) is pushed a short distance into a metal with a defined load, the load divided by the contact area becomes the measure of hardness. For testing…
geology: MineralogyDetermining the hardness of a mineral is the most practical way of identifying it. This can be done by using the Mohs scale of hardness, which lists 10 common minerals in their relative order of hardness: talc (softest with the scale number 1), gypsum (2), calcite (3),…
abrasive: Abrasive materials: their composition and properties…in an abrasive material is hardness. Simply put, the abrasive must be harder than the material it is to grind, polish, or remove. Hardness of the various abrasive materials can be measured on a number of scales, including the Mohs hardness test, the Knoop hardness test, and the Vickers hardness…
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