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What mineral do you scratch with a penny or steel wool for hardness?
Wiki User
∙ 9y ago
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.
Wiki User
∙ 9y ago
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What mineral can be scratched by a steel knife but not a copper penny?
You can scratch any mineral against a mineral with a higher place. Talc maybe?
How is the hardness range for a mineral determined?
The answer is quite complicated in fact I don't know the exact answer. What I really know is that a geologist will probably know the exact answer. Geologists study rocks and rocks have lots of minerals. You can search the answer as well by looking at geologist websites. If it doesn't work then I hope someone else can edit this answer.
What minerals have a hardness of 7 on the mohs scale?
Topaz is a common mineral with a hardness of 8 on the Moh's hardness scale. This means it can scratch glass and cannot be scratched with a knife blade or masonry (steel) nail.
What other mineral can scratch a steel knife or window glass?
diamond
How is the Mohs scale of mineral hardness used?
The Mohs scale is used to aid in quick field identification of minerals, along with other techniques. Mohs based the scale on ten minerals that are all readily available. As the hardest known naturally occurring substance, diamond is at the top of the scale. The hardness of a material is measured against the scale by finding the hardest material that the given material can scratch, and/or the softest material that can scratch the given material. For example, if some material is scratched by apatite but not by fluorite, its hardness on the Mohs scale would fall between 4 and 5. Hardness Mineral 1 Talc (Mg3Si4O10(OH)2) 2 Gypsum (CaSO4·2H2O) 3 Calcite (CaCO3) 4 Fluorite (CaF2) 5 Apatite (Ca5(PO4)3(OH-,Cl-,F-) 6 Orthoclase (KAlSi3O8) 7 Quartz (SiO2) 8 Topaz (Al2SiO4(OH-,F-)2) 9 Corundum (Al2O3) 10 Diamond (C)
What is the hardness of a steel nail on the Mohs scale?
The hardness of a steel nail is about 4.5 (About the same hardness of the mineral Fluorite.)
What mineral can be scratched by a steel knife but not a copper penny?
You can scratch any mineral against a mineral with a higher place. Talc maybe?
How do you find hardness of an unknown mineral?
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.
What are you referring when you address the hardness of a mineral?
A minerals hardness is basically its tendency to scratch or be scratched by another mineral or object. For example if a mineral is very soft (Like Talc or Gypsum) then you can scratch it with your finger but if you have a very hard mineral such as diamond you will not be able to scratch it with anything other than another diamond. The hardness values are quantified in Mohs hardness scale using the numbers 1-10 with 1 being the softest (Talc) and 10 being the hardest (Diamond). Ordinary objects with a known hardness can be used to determine a minerals relative hardness by simply seeing if the object will scratch the mineral or not. Pencil lead=1.5, Fingernail =2.2-2.5, Penny=3.2-3.5, Pocketknife=5.1, Glass plate=5.5, Steel file=6.5, Streak plate=7.0
How would a mineral collector determine the hardness of an unknown mineral specimen?
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.
A mineral that can by a steel file The property you are testing is the mineral's?
Hardness
How is the hardness range for a mineral determined?
The answer is quite complicated in fact I don't know the exact answer. What I really know is that a geologist will probably know the exact answer. Geologists study rocks and rocks have lots of minerals. You can search the answer as well by looking at geologist websites. If it doesn't work then I hope someone else can edit this answer.
What mineral can scratch glass but not steel file?
n
If you scratch a penny with an steel file, will the copper of the penny rub off on the file, or the steel (iron) of the file rub off on the penny?
The copper of the penny will rub off the file
Can calcite scratch other minerals if so which one?
No.because calcite is softer then feldspar
What other mineral can scratch a steel knife or window glass?
diamond
What minerals have a hardness of 7 on the mohs scale?
Topaz is a common mineral with a hardness of 8 on the Moh's hardness scale. This means it can scratch glass and cannot be scratched with a knife blade or masonry (steel) nail.
