Moh’s Scale, Hardness of Materials was created by German Mineralogist Friedrich Mohs in
1822 measuring the hardness of scratch resistance of various materials. He based it on ten readily available
materials. From 1 very soft and 10 very hard. The hardness of a material is measured against the scale by finding the hardest material that that the given material can scratch, or the softest material that
can scratch the given material.
Reference Items Hardness.
Copper penney hardness 3
Knife Blade Hardness 5
Glass Window Hardness 5.5
| Diamond |
10 |
| Ruby |
9 |
| Sapphire |
9 |
| Chrysoberyl |
8.5 |
| Topaz |
8 |
| Emerald |
7.5 |
| Ametrine |
7.5 |
| Quartz Cats Eye |
7 |
| Smoky Quartz |
7 |
| Amethyst |
7 |
| Citrine |
7 |
| Tanzanite |
6.5 - 7 |
| Peridot |
6.5 - 7 |
| Jasper |
6.5 - 7 |
| Fire Agate |
6.5 - 7 |
| Tsavorite Garnet |
6.5 - 7.5 |
| Onyx |
6.5 - 7 |
| Zircon |
6.5 - 7.5 |
| Blood stone |
6.5 - 7 |
| Sunstone |
6 - 6.5 |
| Moon Stone |
6 - 6.5 |
| Jadeite |
6 - 6.5 |
| Opal |
5.5 - 6.5 |
| Rhodonite |
5.5 - 6.5 |
| Turquoise |
5-6 |
| Malachite |
3.5 - 4 |
| Coral |
3 - 4 |
| Calcite |
3 |
| Pearl |
2.5 - 4.5 |
| Amber |
2 - 4 |
|
