Many mineral can not scratch Quartz.
Remember the mnemonic for Mohs' scale of hardens "The Girls Can Flirt And Other Queer Things Can Do", where the mineral for each first letter is:
(softest)
Thus minerals 1-6 can not scratch quartz.
According to the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, quartz (7) will not scratch any mineral with a higher number on the scale. Corundum is listed at 9. Therefore quartz will not scratch corundum, but corundum can scratch quartz.
apatite will not scratch quartz topaz calcite or corundum
Topaz is a mineral that can scratch quartz due to its hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale, while corundum, with a hardness of 9, cannot be scratched by topaz. This places topaz in between quartz and corundum in terms of hardness, allowing it to effectively scratch quartz but not corundum.
The mineral that would scratch apatite but not scratch fluorite is quartz. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, while apatite has a hardness of 5 and fluorite has a hardness of 4. Therefore, quartz can scratch apatite but is too hard to be scratched by fluorite.
The mineral that can scratch glass but can be scratched by a steel file is quartz. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, allowing it to scratch glass, which typically has a hardness of around 5.5. However, a steel file, which has a hardness of about 6.5 to 7, can scratch quartz.
According to the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, quartz (7) will not scratch any mineral with a higher number on the scale. Corundum is listed at 9. Therefore quartz will not scratch corundum, but corundum can scratch quartz.
Apatite is a mineral that can scratch feldspar but not quartz. This is because apatite has a higher hardness value than feldspar but a lower hardness value than quartz on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.
apatite will not scratch quartz topaz calcite or corundum
If you rubbed a mineral of hardness 7.5 against a piece of quartz, which has a hardness of 7, you would expect the harder mineral to scratch the quartz. The mineral with a hardness of 7.5 would leave a mark or scratch on the quartz surface, demonstrating the principle that harder materials can scratch softer ones. However, quartz would not be able to scratch the harder mineral in this scenario.
You can tell if a mineral can scratch another mineral by performing a scratch test, where you use the hardness scale to compare the minerals. If the mineral you are testing can scratch the other mineral, then it has a higher hardness on the scale.
According to the Mohs scale of hardness, Diamond has a hardness of 10 and Quartz has a hardness of 7. Any mineral with a hardness greater than 7 can scratch quartz and diamond can scratch any mineral with a hardness less than 10. Corundum (hardness of 9) and Topaz (hardness of 8) are two examples of minerals that can scratch quartz but not diamond.
Topaz is a mineral that can scratch quartz due to its hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale, while corundum, with a hardness of 9, cannot be scratched by topaz. This places topaz in between quartz and corundum in terms of hardness, allowing it to effectively scratch quartz but not corundum.
The mineral that would scratch apatite but not scratch fluorite is quartz. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, while apatite has a hardness of 5 and fluorite has a hardness of 4. Therefore, quartz can scratch apatite but is too hard to be scratched by fluorite.
The mineral that can scratch feldspar and can be scratched by garnet is quartz. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, making it capable of scratching feldspar, which has a hardness of 6. Meanwhile, garnet has a hardness of around 6.5 to 7.5, allowing it to scratch quartz but not all varieties of garnet will scratch quartz.
The mineral that can scratch glass but can be scratched by a steel file is quartz. Quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale, allowing it to scratch glass, which typically has a hardness of around 5.5. However, a steel file, which has a hardness of about 6.5 to 7, can scratch quartz.
Anything under the 7 of the Moh's Hardness Scale, which is the number assigned to quartz. Minerals that can scratch quartz include topaz, corundum and diamond - pretty much everything else won't scratch it.
Quartz is the mineral that can scratch glass and be scratched by topaz. Quartz ranks 7 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, scratching glass which ranks around 5.5. Topaz, ranking 8 on the Mohs scale, can scratch quartz but not glass.