Mohs Hardness Scale
Two editions. The 2024 edition of the Reference Tables was used for the June 2025 through August 2026 Regents examinations, and the past questions on this site were written for it. The 2026 Revised edition applies from the January 2027 exam onward, so a student preparing for January 2027 or later should practise with the 2026 Revised edition.
This site does not copy the reference tables. Open them on the NYSED website with the links below.
The two editions side by side
2024 edition
Used for the June 2025 through August 2026 Regents examinations.
Printed title: Mohs Hardness Scale
Where: page 16 of the PDF.
Shares the page with: Mineral Identification Flowchart
2026 Revised edition
Used for the January 2027 Regents examination onward.
Printed title: Mohs Hardness Scale
Where: page 16 of the PDF.
Shares the page with: Mineral Identification Flowchart
What changed in the 2026 Revised edition
- Mohs Hardness Scale, page 16: the 2024 tools column has streak plate at 6, glass plate at 5.5, steel nail at 4.5 and copper penny at 3.5; 2026 has steel nail at 6.5, glass plate at 5.5 and copper penny at 3.5 (streak plate removed), and hardness numbers are written as 10.0, 9.0 and so on.
The editions were compared by eye on page images, so a small change in a number may be missed. The full list of differences is on the reference tables page.
Past questions that use this table
No past question on this site is tagged to this table yet.