Final answer:
The basic foundation of Moh's hardness scale is that hardness is a mineral's ability to resist abrasion or scratching. The scale is qualitative and uses common objects with predefined hardness values to test unknown minerals. Hardness is directly related to the tightness of the ions in an ionic material.
Step-by-step explanation:
The basic foundation of Moh's hardness scale is that hardness is a mineral's ability to resist abrasion or scratching. Moh's scale is qualitative and is used to determine the relative hardness of minerals. It is based on the relative relationship between 10 different minerals and uses common objects with predefined hardness values to test unknown minerals.
For example, if a mineral scratches an object, then the mineral is harder than the object. The scale does not have a quantitative relationship, so a 10 on the Mohs scale is not 10 times harder than a 1.
Hardness is directly related to the tightness of the ions in an ionic material, which is reflected in the lattice energy. The harder the material, the more tightly the ions are held together electrostatically.