BY: ANNABEL SEMANS

LEARN ABOUT FREDERICH MOHS' JOURNEY TO CREATING OUR SCALE

IN 1801, FREDERICH MOHS WAS HIRED BY A RICH BANKER.

HIS TASK WAS TO SORT THE BANKER'S MINERAL COLLECTION.

SORTING THE MINERALS BY HARDNESS, HE CREATED THE MOHS HARDNESS SCALE

TEN SPECIFIC MINERALS WERE ENOUGH EQUIDISTANT APART, SO WERE CHOSEN TO REPRESENT THE SCALE

IF YOU PURCHASE A HARDNESS KIT, IT WILL USUALLY NOT CONTAIN DIAMONDS.

HOW CAN YOU TELL HOW HARD IT IS IF IT'S NOT ONE OF THE TEN?

GEOLOGISTS MADE HARDNESS TESTS AS WELL, TO HELP IDENTIFY ROCKS AND THEIR PLACE ON THE SCALE

A POPULAR WAY TO TEST HARDNESS IS BY SCRATCHING ROCKS AGINST OTHER MATERIALS SUCH AS...

TRY GETTING AHOLD OF A ROCK AND DO HARDNESS TESTS WITH EVERYDAY MATERIALS. PENNIES. NAILS...