Limestone Marble Hardness

Each of these stones ranks at a 4 on the scale.

Limestone marble hardness. Because granite is between a 6 and 7 on the mohs scale it would be able to scratch other types of stone that have lower ratings such as marble. The mohs scale of hardness was created in 1812 by german geologist mineralogist friedrich mohs. Marble is limestone that has been compacted and heated over millions of years. Limestone generally ranks at around a 3 on the scale while marble falls between 3 and 4.

As a result marble is less porous and slightly stronger than limestone but still less durable than granite. Caches of limestone from different locations can possess different hardness scores. It is composed primarily of the mineral calcite caco 3 and usually contains other minerals such as clay minerals micas quartz pyrite iron oxides and graphite under the conditions of metamorphism the calcite in the limestone recrystallizes to form a rock that is. This method of hardness judgement is based on the ability of one sample of matter to scratch another.

An example of the hardness of a granite countertop can be seen in the fact that a knife blade will not scratch the surface. Marble and limestone lie at the opposite end of the hardness scale from granite. You will have to be very careful not to scratch these surfaces albeit they are not the softest options on the scale. Falling down on the scale a little more are popular countertop options marble travertine and slate.

Mohs hardness between 3 to 5 f 8 14 belong to the medium hard stone such as marble. The hardness of stone is measured by mohs hardness as a unit of calculation mohs hardness in the 6 7 f 14 20 are hard stone such as quartzite and granite. Marble is commonly used for sculpture and as a building material. When it comes to classifying a natural stone granite before making a purchase stone buyers like to focus on the relative granite hardness to know how hard a stone is in comparison with other natural stone products like marble sandstone slate limestone and quartzite.

The granite hardness helps buyers make a balanced decision. So a mineral ranked 8 out of 10 is harder and will scratch a mineral ranked 3. Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals most commonly calcite or dolomite marble is typically not foliated although there are exceptions in geology the term marble refers to metamorphosed limestone but its use in stonemasonry more broadly encompasses unmetamorphosed limestone. Bell reported in the bulletin of engineering geology and the environment that carboniferous limestone consistently rated as harder and stronger than magnesian limestone inferior oolitic limestone and great oolitic limestone.

While marble is slightly harder and denser than limestone both rate very low on the mohs scale a rating used to measure the hardness of stones. The softest countertop options on the mohs scale are limestone 3 and.