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Google "Mohs hardness scale". This is a relative hardness scale which compares one mineral's hardness to another. (It is between 3.5 and 5.5 on the Mohs hardness scale)
Copper
There are two ways. One way is to buy a scratch test kit and follow the instructions. They will tell you to try to scratch minerals of certain hardnesses and find the hardest one it can scratch. For example, if it scratches a mineral with a hardness of 6 but not one with a hardness of 7, the hardness would be between 6 and 7. If you do not have one of those available, you can try scratching common objects. Your fingernail is 1.5, a penny is 2.5, a pocketknife blade is 5.0, window glass is 5.5, a steel file is 6.5, and quartz is 7.0.
Copper penny
nail, penny, your fingernail, or other rocks
You can scratch any mineral against a mineral with a higher place. Talc maybe?
It relative hardness, compared to others. It is relative because it does not give absolute values.
Calcium
calcite
No, to tell how hard a mineral is you either have to test it or determine what mineral it is. Testing uses materials of known hardness such as a fingernail, or copper penny, or scratch plate, if the mineral is scratched by whatever you use to test it is softer. Hardness however is not based on size it will be the same for any sample of the same rock no matter what the size because its based on atomic arrangement and bond type.
The only thing or mineral that will scratch diamond is another diamond. Scientists use a penny nail and fingernail to see what number it is. On a scale measured from 1-10 diamond is 10 ranked as hardest mineral, so nothing scratches diamond except diamond.
Topaz,Calcite Cooprarte
The copper of the penny will rub off the file
No because a coper penny is and quartz is 7 so any ting softer than 7 cannot scratch
Between 3.5 and 5.5 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.
Copper and steel have hardness of around 3 and 6 respectively on the Mohs scale. You can use them to test any mineral, and roughly estimate its hardness. If it's scratched by copper, it's less than 3, if it's scratched by steel but not by copper, it's between 3 and 6, if neither copper nor steel scratches it, then it's above 6.
There are two ways. One way is to buy a scratch test kit and follow the instructions. They will tell you to try to scratch minerals of certain hardnesses and find the hardest one it can scratch. For example, if it scratches a mineral with a hardness of 6 but not one with a hardness of 7, the hardness would be between 6 and 7. If you do not have one of those available, you can try scratching common objects. Your fingernail is 1.5, a penny is 2.5, a pocketknife blade is 5.0, window glass is 5.5, a steel file is 6.5, and quartz is 7.0.