What is the Mohs Hardness Scale What is the Mohs Hardness Scale? The Mohs Hardness Scale characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material. Mohs Hardness Scale - History & Biography of Friedrich Mohs (1773 - 1839) The Mohs Hardness Scale is named after Friedrich Mohs (1773 - 1839) who was a German geologist. Friedrich Mohs studied physics, chemistry and mathematics at University and then continued his studies at the Mining Academy in Freiberg. His interest in diamonds started in earnest in 1801 when he became a foreman at a mine. Friedrich Mohs then moved to Austria identifying the minerals in a private collection of a Banker. During this time he developed a system for classifying minerals by their physical characteristics. Up to this point minerals had always been classified by their chemical composition. In 1812 Friedrich Mohs created a hardness scale which has subsequently been called the Mohs' scale of mineral hardness. Mohs Hardness Scale Among the physical properties of the Diamond that of hardness is pre-eminent ; a quality in which it so exceeds all other bodies that it can penetrate them without being itself even scratched. On the Mohs scale diamond has a hardness of 10 - a diamond is the hardest naturally occurring substance known to man.Diamonds are Forever... The Mohs Hardness Table The Mohs Hardness Scale characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material. It is easy to understand as Mohs used ordinary materials of known hardness to approximate the position of a mineral on the scale. The Mohs Hardness Scale follows: |