About this siteML-05
About Materials Lab
Materials Lab is an information site for comparing how hard, heavy and heat-conductive things are, in tables with sources.
At a glance
This article walks through 7 topics, in this order.
- What does Materials Lab look at?
- Where does the information come from?
- How are ranges shown?
- What exactly do the figures in a table measure?
- Who is Kou, our guide?
- Privacy
…and 1 more in the contents below.
In this article (7 sections)
What does Materials Lab look at?
Materials Lab compares the properties of things in numbers. It covers metals, gems and minerals, wood, and plastics.
It looks at four properties:
- Hardness (Mohs hardness, Vickers hardness)
- Specific gravity and density
- Melting point
- Thermal conductivity
Where does the information come from?
Materials Lab uses mineralogy references, gem research institutes, public agencies, universities and manufacturers' technical data.
- Minerals: Handbook of Mineralogy (Mineralogical Society of America)
- Gems: GIA (Gemological Institute of America)
- Standards: JIS and ISO
- Hardness of everyday tools: university mineralogy lab handouts
We do not cite summary sites, or lists that do not say where their figures come from.
Figures are not typed into the article text. They are kept in one data file, and the tables and figures are generated from it.
How are ranges shown?
When a source gives a range, the table shows the range. We do not round it to a single number.
Gems, alloys and wood vary with origin, composition and moisture. If a source says "6.5 to 7", the table says "6.5 to 7" too.
When the measuring conditions are known, they go in the table heading or a note, for example temperature or moisture content.
What exactly do the figures in a table measure?
Each row says what the figure was measured on.
For example, tooth enamel is given the value of its main mineral. It is not a measurement of a tooth itself. You can tell these rows apart in the "Basis of the value" column.
Who is Kou, our guide?
Kou is the shoebill character who shows you around this site. In the articles, Kou sums up tips and warnings in speech bubbles.
Kou: Knows everything. Sometimes writes things that are wrong. Sorry in advance.
Hi, I'm Kou. If you're in a hurry, just read my speech bubbles.
Privacy
Materials Lab does not collect personal information. There is no contact form, membership registration, or comment section.
We use Google Analytics (GA4) to learn which pages are read and from which countries. It uses cookies (small pieces of data that record browsing). We do not collect information that identifies you, such as your name or email address. See how Google uses data from sites that use its services.
In the future, there may be advertisements from Google AdSense on this site. Google would then use cookies to show ads based on browsing history. You can turn these ads off on Google's ad settings page. If ads are shown, this page will say so.