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 given in ppm. The term "carbonate hardness" is also sometimes used as a synonym for temporary hardness, in which case it refers to that portion of hard water that can be removed by processes such as boiling or lime softening, and then separation of water from the resulting precipitate. Carbonate hardness Carbonate hardness, is a measure of the water hardness caused by the presence of carbonate () and bicarbonate () anions. Carbonate hardness is usually expressed either in degrees KH (dKH) (from the German ""Karbonathärte""), or in "parts per million calcium carbonate" ( ppm or grams per litre|mg/l). One dKH