Mohs Scale of Mineral Hardness

List of elements:

Common uses:

1  Talc

Crushed into a white powder (called "talcum powder") which can absorb moisture, lubricant, cosmetics, first-aid powders. 

2  Gypsum

Building plasters, gypsum panels, soil additive, surgical and orthopedic casts, color additive for drugs and cosmetics, toothpaste ingredient, dietary source of calcium (calcium sulfate).

3  Calcite

Used in production of glass and statues, whitening agent, toothpaste, chewing gum, medicine, plaster, cement, mortar, marble and soil stabilization.

4 Fluorite

Ornamental uses, lapidary, opalescent glass, enamels, flux in steel production, cooking utensils, aluminium smelting.

5  Apatite

Manufacture of fertilizer, green and blue pigments, host material for storage of nuclear waste, protective coatings on metals to prevent rust, occasionally used as a gemstone.

6  Orthoclase Feldspar

Raw material for the manufacture of some glasses, some ceramics (porcelain), constituent of scouring powder, gemstone (moonstone - an intergrowth of orthoclase and albite). Feldspar - 1st most abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust.

7  Quartz

Glass / window panes, eyeglasses, stained glass windows, cell phones (keeps the phone's clock and calendar accurate), provides base frequency for phone calls, gemstone (amethyst and citrine).

8  Topaz

Jewelry (fragile gemstone).

9  Corundum

Bonding agent in jewelry making, manufacture of sandpaper, as an abrasive, grinding wheels, ornamental uses, scratch-resistant optics, instrument windows for satellites and spacecraft.

10  Diamond

Jewelry / gemstones, cutting and drilling applications, membranes used in lasers, x-ray machines and vacuum chambers (diamonds are resistant to heat).