Mohs scale of mineral hardness incorporates additional substances that may fall between levels: Comparison between hardness (Mohs) and hardness (Vickers): Mohs scale of mineral hardness The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is a qualitative ordinal scale characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material. Created in 1812 by German geologist and mineralogist Friedrich Mohs, it is one of several definitions of hardness in materials science, some of which are more quantitative. The method of comparing hardness by seeing which minerals can visibly scratch others is, however, of great antiquity, having been mentioned by Theophrastus in his treatise
Carbonate hardness [milli[equivalent]s] per litre (meq/L) or ppm. Carbonate hardness expressed in ppm does not necessarily equal carbonate alkalinity expressed in ppm. formula_1 whereas formula_2 However, for water with a pH below 8.5, the CO will be less than 1% of the HCO so carbonate alkalinity will equal carbonate hardness to within an error of less than 1%. In a solution where only CO affects the pH, carbonate hardness can be used to calculate the concentration of dissolved CO in the solution with the formula CO = 3 × KH × 10, where KH is degrees of carbonate hardness and CO is