The hardness of a mineral is how well it resists being scratched: a mineral scratches every softer one and is scratched by every harder one. The Mohs scale ranks hardness from 1 to 10 with ten reference minerals, from talc (1), the softest, to diamond (10), the hardest.
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Example 15.6 (Quartz or calcite?)
Two white minerals look alike. The first one is scratched by a copper coin: its hardness is less than 3.5; it is calcite (3). The second one is not scratched by a steel nail and scratches glass: its hardness is more than 6.5; among the reference minerals, it is quartz (7).