Hardnesses of the elements (data page)

The elements are the building blocks that make up all the things around us. They are categorized into chemical groups based on their properties, one of the most important being the level of hardness of an element. Hardness is a measure of how hard or soft an element is when pressed against something else. On the periodic table of elements, the hardness of each element is listed in the data page. The higher the number, the harder the element is. For example, diamond is one of the hardest elements and has a hardness of 10, while water has a hardness of 0.5.