Mohs Hardness Investigation

Investigation Followup

PROCEDURE

The purpose of this experiment is to test different minerals to

see where on the Mohs hardness scale they would fit. My question and

problem, “What mineral is the hardest out of all?” My hypothesis is by

looking at all mine minerals, amethyst is the hardest mineral, followed by

opal, than apatite, then halite, than graphite and the muscovite will be the

softest mineral.

To begin this experiment, I purchased and gathered all my

materials together. The materials I have include: Graphite, Apatite,

Muscovite, Halite, Amethyst, Opal minerals. Also I have Glass, sand

paper, knife, Emery board / steel knife, and copper penny to perform the

scratch test with put all the materials
Now, what do the results

mean? After stating my hypothesis, and figuring out which one was the

hardest mineral, amethyst was the hardest one. It showed that because

out of all the six minerals, amethyst had a six value of hardness.

Obviously my results were different from the actual hardness. No one is

100% accurate. When I was experimenting and recording my results, my

calculations were not very different, they were very close. For amethyst, I

had a hardness of seven, opal was from 5.5-6.5, apatite was about 5,

halite had 2, muscovite had from 2-2.5, and graphite was from 1-2. When

performing the scratch test, some of the minerals already have scratch

test on them, so if I was using a magnifying glass, it would help and be beneficial. CONCLUSION

With all the experiments and calculations I have collected, my

hypothesis was correct that the amethyst mineral was the hardest. From

the twenty three day period and I have repeated my experiment almost

every single day. Everything I have done in my experiment is what