Identification

Talc Identification Sheet

The Mohs 1 anchor at the bottom of the scale: so soft a fingernail scratches it, with a greasy, soapy feel no other common mineral shares.

Rock type: Metamorphic

For: Collectors, Students

Mohs hardness 1 1 (defines the scale point)
Streak White
Luster Pearly, Greasy Pearly to greasy
CleavagePerfect basal {001}
Crystal habit Foliated, Fibrous, Massive Foliated to fibrous masses; massive soapstone

Talc (a hydrated magnesium silicate) defines hardness 1 — everything scratches it, including a fingernail with ease. The soapy, greasy feel of its foliated masses is the classic field cue, and massive talc is the soapstone of carvers and countertops. Found in low-grade metamorphic rocks, often with serpentine.

Anchoring the scale

Talc is Mohs 1 by definition, which makes it the calibration point for every scratch kit: if your "talc" resists a fingernail, your reference is mislabeled, not the scale. Its other unmistakable cue is feel — soapy and almost slippery, a texture no harder mineral shares. The top of the scale is held down by corundum, and the library covers the whole run between.

Related in the library

Common lookalikes

Gypsum (harder at 2, no soapy feel), pyrophyllite (nearly identical in hand sample — note the locality), muscovite (elastic flakes, talc's are not).