apatite with a steel knife
feldspar with window glass
diamond
Diamond will scratch anything.
You can scratch any mineral against a mineral with a higher place. Talc maybe?
The Mohs Scale of Hardness is used to measure hardness of a mineral, which is its resistance to scratching. It is a quantitative scale, which relies on the relative hardness of other minerals . Higher numbered minerals scratch lower numbered ones. You can use every day objects like a glass plate, a knife, or a nail to distinguish hard and soft. Hard minerals scratch glass, but can't be scratched with a knife blade of a nail. Soft minerals will not scratch glass, but can be scratched with a knife blade or masonry nail. You can purchase hardness kits to help make these distinctions.
the cleavage for pyrite is cubic
not diamond
diamond
Diamond will scratch anything.
You can scratch any mineral against a mineral with a higher place. Talc maybe?
It would have a Mohs hardness somewhere between 2.5 and 5.5.
The Mohs Scale of Hardness is used to measure hardness of a mineral, which is its resistance to scratching. It is a quantitative scale, which relies on the relative hardness of other minerals . Higher numbered minerals scratch lower numbered ones. You can use every day objects like a glass plate, a knife, or a nail to distinguish hard and soft. Hard minerals scratch glass, but can't be scratched with a knife blade of a nail. Soft minerals will not scratch glass, but can be scratched with a knife blade or masonry nail. You can purchase hardness kits to help make these distinctions.
apatite can not scratch glass. it is considered number 5 1/2 on the Mohs Scale Of Hardness. Apatite is number 5 on the scale and can only scratch itself and all of the minerals lower on the scale.
Quartz is a mineral. It has a hardness of 7 on Mohs Scale of Hardness; thus, it scratches glass but it is not scratched by a masonry nail or knife blade. It does not have any cleavage, it only fractures, and it can have conchoidal fracture (similar to glass). It is also a light-colored nonmetallic mineral with a greasy luster. It can be colorless, white, gray, or other colors. Other distinctive mineral proprieties include its hexagonal prisms, pyramidal structure, and that it can be transparent or translucent.
Quartz is a mineral. It has a hardness of 7 on Mohs Scale of Hardness; thus, it scratches glass but it is not scratched by a masonry nail or knife blade. It does not have any cleavage, it only fractures, and it can have conchoidal fracture (similar to glass). It is also a light-colored nonmetallic mineral with a greasy luster. It can be colorless, white, gray, or other colors. Other distinctive mineral proprieties include its hexagonal prisms, pyramidal structure, and that it can be transparent or translucent.
Apatite
The property of a mineral that is determined by scratching is its hardness. A mineral can be identified by its hardness; for example Talc, which is 1 on Mohs scale of hardness is very soft and can be scratched by a fingernail, as can most common forms of gypsum. Apatite, which is 5 on mohs scale of hardness can be scratched by a steel knife or window glass, whereas Quartz (7) cannot. Diamond is the hardest in the scale at 10, it is almost 4 times as hard as Corundum (9 on mohs scale). Some other ways of determining a type of mineral are: Cleavage/Fracture Chemical Formula Luster Density Streak Specific Gravity Interference colors, twinning, pleochroism & extinction angles can be viewed under an optical microscope with plane and cross polarized light
The property of a mineral that is determined by scratching is its hardness. A mineral can be identified by its hardness; for example Talc, which is 1 on Mohs scale of hardness is very soft and can be scratched by a fingernail, as can most common forms of gypsum. Apatite, which is 5 on mohs scale of hardness can be scratched by a steel knife or window glass, whereas Quartz (7) cannot. Diamond is the hardest in the scale at 10, it is almost 4 times as hard as Corundum (9 on mohs scale). Some other ways of determining a type of mineral are: Cleavage/Fracture Chemical Formula Luster Density Streak Specific Gravity Interference colors, twinning, pleochroism & extinction angles can be viewed under an optical microscope with plane and cross polarized light