<p>In school, I was acquainted with the Moh's hardness scale.  I wondered how malleability factors into this scale and was surprised to find there are <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardness_comparison" rel="nofollow noreferrer">many different hardness scales</a>:  the Rockwell scale, the Leeb scale, the Vickers, the Meyer, and I'm sure others.</p>

<p>What are all the different hardness scales?  And, which ones are used in Earth Science?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-19T21:15:25.367Z
The short answer is that they were developed for different types of hardness and different materials often using different techniques. This Wiki helps break down the different scales by which one of the three types of hardness they measure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardness
John
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-20T05:51:36.727Z
Broad, and unclear what exactly the question, given that most of this info is readily available in the link give by @John.
Gimelist
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-20T12:19:55.890Z
I think the nature of this question is more about engineering or material science than earth science. The different hardness tests & scales where all development for engineering purposes not for earth science purposes.
Fred
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-05-21T18:44:50.220Z
@Fred It's untrue that all hardness scales were developed "for engineering purposes": the Mohs scale was developed specifically for minerals. And while Vickers was developed for engineering, it is also used in geosciences [(e.g. here)](https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2007.2212).
Pont
<geology>
What are the different hardness scales?
f.thorpe
# What are the different hardness scales?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-05-19)

In school, I was acquainted with the Moh's hardness scale. I wondered how malleability factors into this scale and was surprised to find there are [many different hardness scales](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardness_comparison): the Rockwell scale, the Leeb scale, the Vickers, the Meyer, and I'm sure others.

What are all the different hardness scales? And, which ones are used in Earth Science?

**Tags:** geology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The short answer is that they were developed for different types of hardness and different materials often using different techniques. This Wiki helps break down the different scales by which one of the three types of hardness they measure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardness  
> **username_2**: Broad, and unclear what exactly the question, given that most of this info is readily available in the link give by @username_1.  
> **username_3**: I think the nature of this question is more about engineering or material science than earth science. The different hardness tests & scales where all development for engineering purposes not for earth science purposes.  
> **username_4**: @username_3 It's untrue that all hardness scales were developed "for engineering purposes": the Mohs scale was developed specifically for minerals. And while Vickers was developed for engineering, it is also used in geosciences [(e.g. here)](https://doi.org/10.2138/am.2007.2212).  

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