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Results for Mohs scale
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A scale for classifying minerals based on relative hardness, determined by the ability of harder minerals to scratch softer ones. The scale includes the following minerals, in order from softest to hardest: 1. talc; 2. gypsum; 3. calcite; 4. fluorite; 5. apatite; 6. orthoclase; 7. quartz; 8. topaz; 9. corundum; 10. diamond.
[After Friedrich Mohs (1773–1839), German mineralogist.]
A scale which rates the scratch hardness of a mineral on a scale of 1 (talc) to 10 (diamond).
A general measure of hardness represented as a scale running between 1 (soft) and 10 (hard) in which each step is represented by a distinctive mineral: 1 = talc; 2 = gypsum; 3 = calcite; 4 = fluorspar; 5 = apatite; 6 = felspar; 7 = quartz; 8 = topaz; 9 = corundum; 10 = diamond. If a sample of material (e.g. pottery) can be scratched with one of these minerals then it is softer than that mineral; through a process of trial and error a sample's position on the scale can be determined.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
a scale of hardness of solids; talc is 0 and diamond is 10; ordering is determined by which substance can scratch another substance
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Architecture. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction. Copyright © 2003 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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