Relative hardness and absolute hardness are clearly stated in textbooks. The relative hardness of minerals is divided into 10 grades. A mineral that scratches the surface of a crystal when two minerals rub against each other is less hard, meaning that the harder crystal will scratch the less hard crystal. Minerals with relative hardnesses ranging from 1 to 10 are “1 Talc, 2 Gypsum, 3 Calcite, 4 Fluorite, 5 Apatite, 6 Orthoclase, 7 Quartz, 8 Topaz, 9 Corundum, and 10 Diamond.
This set of relative hardness scales was pioneered by the mineralogist Friedrich Mohs (1773-1839), also known as Mohs, hence the name Mohs or Mohs Hardness. Mohs was born in Germany and moved to Austria in 1801 to engage in mineral identification work. Therefore, some books say that Mohs was an Austrian, while some Internet sources say that he was a German.