Question
Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals
Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals
Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals
Introduction
A mineral is a naturally occurring, homogeneous1 inorganic2 solid substance with a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure, color, and hardness. Minerals are made of particles that bond together. The particles may be hard or soft. This property determines whether the mineral is hard like granite or soft like the graphite in a pencil. In 1812, an Austrian mineralogist named Friedrich Mohs developed a scale for measuring the hardness of minerals. Mohs gathered ten commonly available minerals and scratched them against each other. This allowed him to arrange them on a scale of relative hardness from 1 - 10. The softest minerals were those that were most easily scratched, and they were given a score of 1. The hardest minerals were given a higher score -- closer to 10. Talc was the softest mineral on the scale because every other mineral Mohs tested would leave a mark on it. He gave it a rating of one. Mohs gave a mineral called feldspar a rating of six. That means it was harder and able to scratch all the minerals with lower ratings, but it was softer and could not leave marks on the minerals with higher ratings. A diamond was the hardest of the minerals Mohs tested. It could scratch all the other minerals in the scale, but no other mineral could leave a mark on the diamond.
Today, the Mohs hardness test involves scratching a mineral with an object of known hardness to see if it leaves a mark. A person can use objects of known hardness, such as a fingernail which has a score of 2.5 on the Mohs scale, a penny with a score of 3.5, glass with a score of 5.5, or a steel file at 5.1. In this experiment, the student will use these objects of known hardness to scratch unknown minerals. Then students will draw conclusions about each mineral's identity based on the results.
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the identity of unknown minerals by using the Mohs hardness scale. The experiment will involve testing 4 unknown specimens by scratching them with objects of known hardness and using the Mohs scale to determine which minerals the specimens are.
Materials
penny
wire nail
steel file
safety gloves
magnifying glass
flat sheet of glass with smooth edges
4 different unknown mineral specimens (numbered 1 through 4)
Procedure
Use the magnifying glass to observe each unknown mineral and record a description of their physical characteristics in Column 2 of the Data Table.
Try to scratch mineral #1 with a fingernail. If a fingernail did not scratch mineral #1, put on the safety gloves and try to scratch mineral #1 with each of the following objects in this order: penny, wire nail, steel file, and glass.
Record which object(s) scratched mineral #1 or which objects mineral #1 was able to scratch, in Column 3 of the Data Table. (Use the magnifying glass to view scratch if needed.)
Using the data collected in Columns 2 and 3, determine the approximate hardness of mineral #1 in Column 4 of the Data Table.
Compare the appearance of mineral #1 to that shown in the Mohs Hardness Scale Table and record the identity in Column 5 of the Data Table.
Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each of the three remaining unknown minerals.
Results
Analysis
Unknown mineral specimens could be identified by comparing physical descriptions and completing scratch tests to assign hardness scores. Mineral #1 the softest, while Mineral #2 was the hardest.
1homogeneous: of the same or similar nature or kind
2inorganic: not involving living organisms
"Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals" property of Pearson.
Write one-two paragraphs explaining the benefit of testing minerals in the scratch test by using objects in the following order:
your fingernail
a penny
a wire nail
a steel file
a piece of glass
Then, explain how changing this order might make recording the experiment results more difficult. Use details from "Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals" to support your answer.
Write one-two paragraphs explaining the benefit of testing minerals in the scratch test by using objects in the following order:
your fingernail
a penny
a wire nail
a steel file
a piece of glass
Then, explain how changing this order might make recording the experiment results more difficult. Use details from "Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals" to support your answer.
Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals
Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals
Introduction
A mineral is a naturally occurring, homogeneous1 inorganic2 solid substance with a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure, color, and hardness. Minerals are made of particles that bond together. The particles may be hard or soft. This property determines whether the mineral is hard like granite or soft like the graphite in a pencil. In 1812, an Austrian mineralogist named Friedrich Mohs developed a scale for measuring the hardness of minerals. Mohs gathered ten commonly available minerals and scratched them against each other. This allowed him to arrange them on a scale of relative hardness from 1 - 10. The softest minerals were those that were most easily scratched, and they were given a score of 1. The hardest minerals were given a higher score -- closer to 10. Talc was the softest mineral on the scale because every other mineral Mohs tested would leave a mark on it. He gave it a rating of one. Mohs gave a mineral called feldspar a rating of six. That means it was harder and able to scratch all the minerals with lower ratings, but it was softer and could not leave marks on the minerals with higher ratings. A diamond was the hardest of the minerals Mohs tested. It could scratch all the other minerals in the scale, but no other mineral could leave a mark on the diamond.
Today, the Mohs hardness test involves scratching a mineral with an object of known hardness to see if it leaves a mark. A person can use objects of known hardness, such as a fingernail which has a score of 2.5 on the Mohs scale, a penny with a score of 3.5, glass with a score of 5.5, or a steel file at 5.1. In this experiment, the student will use these objects of known hardness to scratch unknown minerals. Then students will draw conclusions about each mineral's identity based on the results.
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the identity of unknown minerals by using the Mohs hardness scale. The experiment will involve testing 4 unknown specimens by scratching them with objects of known hardness and using the Mohs scale to determine which minerals the specimens are.
Materials
penny
wire nail
steel file
safety gloves
magnifying glass
flat sheet of glass with smooth edges
4 different unknown mineral specimens (numbered 1 through 4)
Procedure
Use the magnifying glass to observe each unknown mineral and record a description of their physical characteristics in Column 2 of the Data Table.
Try to scratch mineral #1 with a fingernail. If a fingernail did not scratch mineral #1, put on the safety gloves and try to scratch mineral #1 with each of the following objects in this order: penny, wire nail, steel file, and glass.
Record which object(s) scratched mineral #1 or which objects mineral #1 was able to scratch, in Column 3 of the Data Table. (Use the magnifying glass to view scratch if needed.)
Using the data collected in Columns 2 and 3, determine the approximate hardness of mineral #1 in Column 4 of the Data Table.
Compare the appearance of mineral #1 to that shown in the Mohs Hardness Scale Table and record the identity in Column 5 of the Data Table.
Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each of the three remaining unknown minerals.
Results
Analysis
Unknown mineral specimens could be identified by comparing physical descriptions and completing scratch tests to assign hardness scores. Mineral #1 the softest, while Mineral #2 was the hardest.
1homogeneous: of the same or similar nature or kind
2inorganic: not involving living organisms
"Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals" property of Pearson.
Write one-two paragraphs explaining the benefit of testing minerals in the scratch test by using objects in the following order:
your fingernail
a penny
a wire nail
a steel file
a piece of glass
Then, explain how changing this order might make recording the experiment results more difficult. Use details from "Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals" to support your answer.
Write one-two paragraphs explaining the benefit of testing minerals in the scratch test by using objects in the following order:
your fingernail
a penny
a wire nail
a steel file
a piece of glass
Then, explain how changing this order might make recording the experiment results more difficult. Use details from "Mineral Hardness Test Experiment: Using the Mohs Scale to Determine the Hardness of Minerals" to support your answer.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Testing minerals using the scratch test in a specific order—your fingernail, followed by a penny, a wire nail, a steel file, and finally a piece of glass—offers a systematic approach to accurately determining the hardness of unknown specimens. This sequence effectively utilizes progressively harder materials, allowing for a clear differentiation between the hardness levels of the minerals. Starting with the softest material, the fingernail, serves as a gentle introduction to the hardness assessment, making it easy to identify very soft minerals. This logical progression ensures that each test provides valuable information and the absence of scratches narrows down the potential hardness rating. For example, if a mineral cannot be scratched by a fingernail but can be scratched by a penny, we can immediately classify the hardness as above 2.5 but below 3.5, which aids in identifying the mineral based on the Mohs hardness scale.
If the order of testing were to be changed, it could complicate the process of recording experiment results and figuring out the mineral's hardness. For instance, starting with a harder object, such as a piece of glass, before testing with a fingernail could lead to ambiguous data. If the mineral is scratched by glass, it merely indicates that the mineral is harder than 5.5, but this does not provide information on how it ranks against softer materials. Consequently, if the mineral cannot be scratched by the glass but can by the steel file, the harder reference limits may create confusion in pinpointing the precise hardness. As stated in the experiment, each scratch test contributes to determining the mineral's identity through systematic observation and analysis, and a deviation from the established order could cause misinterpretation of results and obscure the true hardness of the unknown mineral specimens.
If the order of testing were to be changed, it could complicate the process of recording experiment results and figuring out the mineral's hardness. For instance, starting with a harder object, such as a piece of glass, before testing with a fingernail could lead to ambiguous data. If the mineral is scratched by glass, it merely indicates that the mineral is harder than 5.5, but this does not provide information on how it ranks against softer materials. Consequently, if the mineral cannot be scratched by the glass but can by the steel file, the harder reference limits may create confusion in pinpointing the precise hardness. As stated in the experiment, each scratch test contributes to determining the mineral's identity through systematic observation and analysis, and a deviation from the established order could cause misinterpretation of results and obscure the true hardness of the unknown mineral specimens.