Can Muscovite Scratch Glass? (ANSWERED)

No, muscovite cannot scratch glass.

In the article that follows, you’ll learn more about glass and muscovite, as well as why it is that muscovite cannot scratch glass.

Can Muscovite Scratch Glass? (EXPLAINED)

The one material will scratch glass while another will not stems from the differences when comparing the two materials on the Mohs hardness scale.

Whereas typical commercial glass registers at 5.5-7, muscovite only has a 2-2.25 hardness.

To better understand why these materials differ in this aspect, we have to look at each one separately.

Let’s begin our exploration with glass.

This material has been in use since the dawn of stone tools, which included the naturally occurring glass, obsidian.

Studies suggest that glass manufacturing has been done since the 14^th century BC, with the name of the inventor lost to history.

However, evidence suggests that the region it started in is Palestine.

The process was then further developed by the ancient Egyptians.

Glass in its early days was hard to come by due to difficulty in processing it.

Only the rich could afford glass at that time in the form of glass beads for necklaces and other valuable treasures.

The ancient Romans then helped industrialize the process by setting up blowing workshops all across their empire.

Later on, Germany and France adopted glass blowing practices for their own purposes.

Would an early form of glass become scratched by muscovite?

Actually, no. This is due to early forms of glass being made of mostly silicone dioxide (SiO2), or silica sand, which has a Mohs hardness of 7, even harder than most glass used today.

What about the earliest of the glasses, obsidian?

Again, muscovite with a Mohs hardness of 2 or slightly above wouldn’t scratch it, as obsidian has been shown to register at 5.5.

Glass today, as we know, is used in plenty of applications.

Windows, wine glasses, the screens on our smart phones, its presence is just about everywhere.

However, some forms are more common than others.

Take soda-lime glass, for example.

This type makes up the largest quantity of all glass produced around the world.

From food jars, beer bottles, sheet glass products, soda-lime glass is by far the king if we’re talking about quantity alone.

Like its ancient predecessors, soda-lime glass is primarily made up of silicone dioxide, approximately 71-75%. Other compounds added include 10-15% lime (CaO), 12-16% sodium bicarbonate (Na2O), and small amounts of dye to give certain products color.

Other kinds of commonly used glass include crystal and borosilicate.

Their concentrations of silicate sand differ from soda-lime, 54-65% for crystal and 70-80% for borosilicate.

Crystal glass can be used for vases, ashtrays, or even decorative ornaments such as chandeliers.

Borosilicate glass, with its 7-13% boron trioxide, is made for pharmaceutical applications or anything that requires resistance to extreme chemical and/or temperature fluctuations.

Could any of these modern day forms of glass be scratched by muscovite?

Considering the average hardness for these materials ranges from 6-7 on the Mohs scale, the answer is no.

Even though some of the materials added to modern glass can soften it, making it more malleable, it’s not nearly enough for muscovite’s 2-2.25 to cause any scratches.

Now we’ll look at our other material, muscovite, in detail.

This mineral is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of potassium and aluminum ((KF)2(Al2O3)3(SiO2)6(H20)) or (KAl2(AlSi3O10)(F,OH)2).

It can break apart into very thin laminae or sheets due to its highly perfect basal cleavage.

Muscovite can be colorless (transparent), or come in brown, gray, green, yellow, and even violet or red in some rare cases.

It’s the most common form of mica, which can be found in gneisses, shists, granites, and pegmatites.

History shows us that muscovite was first used in medieval Russia, with its first mention in George Turberville’s letters in 1568.

Being the secretary of England’s ambassador to the “Muscovite” tsar Ivan the Terrible, he reported that the Russians used it as a less expensive option for glass when making windows.

The name “muscovite” is in fact derived from its original notation, “Muscovy-glass.”

The early name was based on the area it was mined and used in, Muscovy province, Russia.

Muscovite can be found in Switzerland, Russia, India, Peru, Canada, and even the United States.

Within the States, the mineral can be found in San Diego County, California; Middlesex County, Connecticut; and New England.

Considering how often it’s found within metamorphic rock, try searching for any areas with high amounts of pegmatite should you want to add muscovite to your personal mineral collection.

Its other known locations include being within high grade metamorphic rocks, granitic igneous rocks, peraluminous rock (where aluminum content is quite high), and even hydrothermal deposits.

Aside from early, cheap windows, muscovite was also used for microwave and furnace windows before glass became a more commercial commodity.

Today, it can be used as a dusting agent, to join cement, grounded into paints, and insulating and electrical applications.

Due to its extremely high melting point of 1300 degrees Celsius, muscovite, along with other kinds of mica, is used extensively in our modern world for any very high heat applications.

The mineral has even found its way into delicate scientific work by being used for atomic force microscopy, electron microscopy, nanomaterials, and even thin film deposition.

Considering all the evidence and data available, muscovite cannot scratch glass in any of its forms due to the stark differences in their Mohs hardness, ancient or modern.

Whereas muscovite is highly useful for insulating against extreme heat, providing cheap transparent surfaces to gaze through, or even high-grade scientific measuring and experimentation, it is just too soft to put any sort of mark on glass.