Marble Mohs Hardness

It is a part of the calcite group which also includes limestone dolomite boric acid brass and serpentine.

Marble mohs hardness.

The igneous rock is comprised of mostly quartz and feldspar along with smaller amounts of various other minerals. These countertops are the least susceptible to scratching and many other damages. What is mohs hardness scale. Calcite the mineral group including marble and limestone rates a 3 on mohs hardness scale just slightly harder than alabaster.

Marble has a mohs hardness scale rating between 3 4. Granite comes in at a 6 to 7 on the mohs scale meaning it is relatively hard. Depending on the limestone and the mineral combination within the marble most marble rates from three to five on the mohs hardness scale. A fingernail is too soft to scratch marble but a copper penny can easily scratch this material.

The test is useful because most specimens of a given mineral are very close to the same hardness. Being composed of calcite marble has a hardness of three on the mohs hardness scale. Slightly softer than granite and gemstone quartzite quartz and onyx each rank at a 7 on the mohs scale. One of the most important tests for identifying mineral specimens is the mohs hardness test.

The mohs scale of mineral hardness m oʊ z is a qualitative ordinal scale characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. Created in 1812 by german geologist and mineralogist friedrich mohs it is one of several definitions of hardness in materials science some of which are more quantitative. Among the harder natural stone countertop materials on the mohs scale are granite and gemstone which each rank at an 8 on the scale. The translucence of marble makes it especially attractive for many types of sculptures.

Granite on the mohs scale granite is a blend of different minerals fused together by the tectonics of the earth making it difficult to determine the hardness of the material. As a result marble is easy to carve and that makes it useful for producing sculptures and ornamental objects. On the mohs hardness scale marble is at number 3. This means that marble is less scratch resistant than granite.

An example of the hardness of a granite countertop can be seen in the fact that a knife blade will not scratch the surface. This test compares the resistance of a mineral to being scratched by ten reference minerals known as the mohs hardness scale see table at left.