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The Mohs Scale


The mohs scale was introduced in 1822 and it rates the hardness of gems and minerals. The scale was introduced by a German mineralogist, Friedrich Mohs. The scale is an assessment of how well a gem or mineral resists being scratched or abraded. Mohs put ten common minerals in the order with 1 being the softest and 10 the hardest. Basically, each gemstone can be scratched by the one above it, with diamond being the hardest.

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Diamond        10
Corundum       9
Topaz               8
         Quartz             7         

Feldspar          6

Apatite            5
Fluorite           4
Calcite            3
Gypsum         2
Talc                1

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