Mineral necessarily constant for all sides, which is a function of its structure; crystallographic weakness renders some directions softer than others. An example of this property exists in kyanite, which has a Mohs hardness of 5½ parallel to [001] but 7 parallel to [100]. The most common scale of measurement is the ordinal Mohs hardness scale. Defined by ten indicators, a mineral with a higher index scratches those below it. The scale ranges from talc, a phyllosilicate, to diamond, a carbon polymorph that is the hardest natural material. The scale is provided below: Lustre indicates how light reflects from the mineral's
Calcite Calcite Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO). The Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison, defines value 3 as "calcite". Other polymorphs of calcium carbonate are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite over timescales of days or less at temperatures exceeding 300°C, and vaterite is even less stable. Calcite is derived from the German "Calcit", a term coined in the 19th century from the Latin word for lime, "calx" (genitive calcis) with the suffix -ite used to name minerals. It is thus etymologically related to