hardness

Measure of how resistant solid matter is to various kinds of permanent shape change when a force is applied

Entitymechanical properties of fiber mechanical propertyQ3236003

Also known as hard · pressure-resistant · resistant · hard or soft · soft or hard

Instance of: mechanical properties of fiber
, mechanical property
Subclass of: intensive quantity
, non-meta generic quality
, solidity

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

In materials science, hardness is a measure of the resistance to localized plastic deformation, such as an indentation or a scratch (linear), induced mechanically either by pressing or abrasion. In general, different materials differ in their hardness; for example hard metals such as titanium and beryllium are harder than soft metals such as sodium and metallic tin, or wood and common plastics. Macroscopic hardness is generally characterized by strong intermolecular bonds, but the behavior of solid materials under force is complex; therefore, hardness can be measured in different ways, such as scratch hardness, indentation hardness, and rebound hardness. Hardness is dependent on ductility, elastic stiffness, plasticity, strain, strength, toughness, viscoelasticity, and viscosity. Common examples of hard matter are ceramics, concrete, certain metals, and superhard materials, which can be contrasted with soft matter.

Overview

All data

44 statements · 30% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Main Wikidata property: hardness
Opposite of: softness
Different from: Mohs scale of mineral hardness
Facet of: firmness

On other databases

33 identifiers linking hardness across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

30%

externally sourced

Source last edited October 15, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). hardness (Q3236003). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/hardness-Q3236003