718

Correlation of the Mohs's scale of hardness with the

Vickers' s hardness numbers.
By E. WILFRED TAYLOR, C. B. E. , F. R. M. S. , F. I nst . P.
Messrs. Cooke, Tr ought on & Simms, Lt d. , York.
[Read J une 23, 1949.]
M
I NERALOGI STS have l ong been accust omed t o describe har d-
ness wi t h t he ai d of a scale devised by Fri edri ch Mohs, who lived
f r om 1773 t o 1839. The t est is qual i t at i ve, each mi neral i n t he scale
being capabl e of scrat chi ng t hose t ha t precede it, but t he t en mi neral s
have hel d t hei r gr ound as a useful represent at i ve series wi t h whi ch i t
is now i nt erest i ng t o compar e anot her met hod of est i mat i ng har d-
ness.
I n t he met al l urgi cal world hardness is now usual l y expressed by
means of t he Vi ckers' s hardness number s or t hei r equi val ent , and t he
figures are deri ved f r om t he size of t he impression made by a di amond
i ndent er in t he f or m of a four-sided pyr ami d wi t h t he opposi t e faces
worked t o an i ncl uded angle of 136 ~
More r ecent l y mi cro-hardness testers have been devised t o enable
mi nut e impressions t o be formed under light loads on small i ndi vi dual
cryst al s of a metallic alloy, 1 and i t occurred t o t he aut hor t o obt ai n
hardness figures for t he vari ous t ypes of opt i cal glass by means of a
scrat ch t est wi t h such an i nst rument . The i nt ent i on was t o dr aw
a l i ght l y l oaded di amond across a polished glass surface and t o measure
t he wi dt h of t he resul t i ng furrow. This met hod pr oved t o be promi si ng,
but as an experi ment a st at i c i ndent er was also used, and i t was dis-
covered t ha t glass was sufficiently plastic t o t ake good impressions, so
l ong as t he l oad di d not exceed 50 gr ams or t hereabout s. ~
The next st ep was t o det ermi ne i f minerals behaved i n t he same way,
and, al t hough t he impressions were not al ways perfect , i t has been pos-
sible t o const r uct a compar at i ve t abl e and t o assign t o each of t he
minerals in Mohs' s scale a Vi ckers' s hardness number.
I t was realized t ha t t he minerals bel ong t o vari ous cryst al classes
and t ha t t he hardness figures obt ai ned mi ght , like t he scrat ch hardness,
1 E. W. Taylor, Micro-hardness t est i ng of metals. Jour n. Inst . Metals, 1948, vol.
74, p. 493.
E. W. Taylor, Nat ure, 1949, vol. 163, p. 323.
SCALES OF HARDNESS 719
Fi e. 1. Har dness of mi neral s shown by i ndent at i ons wi t h a di amond point.
A. Calcite, surface nor mal t o optic axis. Load 20g. x 500.
B. Calcite, surface parallel t o optic axis. Load 20g. x 500.
C. Fluorite. Loads 100, 70, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10, and 5g. 500.
D. Quartz, surface nor mal t o optic axis. Load 100g. 500.
E. Quartz, surface parallel to optic axis. Load 100g. 500.
F. Corundum, section unknown. Load 100g. 500.
720 E . W. T A Y L O R O N
depend t o some ext ent on t he ori ent at i on of t he cryst al under test. Of
t he minerals t est ed, t he di rect i on of t he opt i cal axis was known onl y
in t he case of nos. 3 and 7.
The following not es rel at e t o t he specimens t est ed by t hi s means and
include samples of silica-glass and synt het i c sapphi re in addi t i on t o
Mohs' s list of minerals.
l . Talc. The impressions were r ar el y clear t o t he edges and t hei r size
was t herefore difficult t o det ermi ne wi t h accuracy.
2. Gypsum. As wi t h no. 1 above, t hough t he impressions were
definitely smaller.
3. Calcite. When t he i ndent at i on was made on a face perpendi cul ar t o
t h e opt i c axis, good but somewhat i rregul ar impressions were obt ai ned,
sur r ounded al ways by cl eavage fract ures whi ch formed an equi l at eral
t ri angl e (fig. 1 A). When t he i ndent at i on was on a face parallel wi t h t he
opt i c axis good but smaller impressions wi t h slightly concave sides
were obt ai ned wi t hout any sign of fract ures (fig. 1 B). On a cl eavage
surface t he impressions were difficult t o measure owing t o f ur t her
fract ures.
4. Fluorite. The impressions f or med on a worked face were perfect l y
square and regul ar i n out l i ne wi t hout any sign of f r act ur e or crumbl i ng,
t hough a t endency for t he ext reme poi nt of t he i ndent er not t o make
an impression was not ed (fig. 1 c). The impressions made on a cl eavage
surface were somewhat larger.
5. Apatite. The impressions were regular, but apt t o flake away
shor t l y aft erwards. To avoi d t hi s t he l oad was reduced t o 20 grams.
6. Orthoclase. The impressions were bounded by concave sides or
even t ook t he f or m of a simple cross.
7. Quartz. When t he i ndent at i on was made on a face perpendi cul ar
t o t he opt i c axi s good impressions wi t h concave sides were obt ai ned
(fig. 1 D). When t he i ndent at i on was on a face parallel t o t he opt i c axis
good but smaller impressions were obt ai ned wi t h mar kedl y concave
sides (fig. 1 E). A piece of fused quar t z (glass) was also t est ed and
yi el ded good but larger impressions t han t he nat ur al crystal.
8. Topaz. No t roubl e due t o fract ures was experi enced on a face
gr ound and polished i n our glass shop, but on a second unr el at ed face,
l apped by di amond workers, it was difficult t o avoi d flaking.
9. Corundum. The impressions showed a t endency t o be ki t e- shaped
r at her t han square. This surface was di amond polished (fig. 1 F). A
di amond-pol i shed surface of synt het i c sapphi re gave good, clear i m-
pressions.
SCALES OF HARDNESS 7 2 1
TA~L~ I. Compar i son of Mohs ' s scal e wi t h Vi cker s' s har dnes s number s .
Loa d
Mohs. Mi neral . gr ams. Vi ckers.
1 Tal c . - . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 47
2 y sum, c l o a v a g e s ur f ac e . . . . . . 50 60
3 Cal ci t e, sur f ace .1_ opt i c axi s . . . 50 105
. . . . II . . . . . . . . . . 5 0 1 4 5
cl eavage sur f ace . . . . . . 50 136
4 Fl uor i t e - - - . . . . . . . . . 50 200
cl eavage sur f ace . . . . . . 50 175
5 Apa t i t e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 659
6 Or t hocl ase , . . . . . . . . . . . 50 714
7 Quar t z, f used silica-glass . . . . . . 50 480
,, sur f ace ]_ opt i c axi s . . . 50 1103
. . . . II . . . . . . . 50 1260
8 Topaz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 1648
9 Cor undum . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 2085
Sapphi r e ( synt het i c) . . . . . . . . . 50 2720
I t wi l l b e s e e n t h a t t h e q u a n t i t a t i v e Vi c k e r s ' s n u mb e r s a r e i n t h e
s a me s e q u e n c e a s Mo h s ' s s c a l e o f h a r d n e s s a n d t h a t i t ma y n o w b e
p o s s i b l e t o c o r r e l a t e t h e m, t h o u g h i t mu s t b e a d mi t t e d t h a t t h e n u mb e r s
g i v e n f o r t h e f i r s t t h r e e mi n e r a l s i n t h e t a b l e a r e o n l y a p p r o x i ma t e .
On e q u e s t i o n s t i l l r e ma i n s u n a n s we r e d : Wh a t i s t h e Vi c k e r s ' s n u mb e r
f or d i a mo n d ? No d o u b t i mp r e s s i o n s c o u l d b e ma d e o n a t l e a s t s o me
f a c e s o f d i a mo n d , b u t we h a v e n o t c a r e d t o r i s k t h e l os s o f a n e x p e n s i v e
d i a mo n d p o i n t i n p u r s u i t o f t h i s i n q u i r y .