Shore durometer

The Shore durometer is a device for measuring the hardness of a material, typically of polymers.

Higher numbers on the scale indicate a greater resistance to indentation and thus harder materials. Lower numbers indicate less resistance and softer materials.

The term is also used to describe a material's rating on the scale, as in an object having a "'Shore durometer' of 90."

The scale was defined by Albert Ferdinand Shore, who developed a suitable device to measure hardness in the 1920s. It was neither the first hardness tester nor the first to be called a durometer (ISV duro- and -meter; attested since the 19th century), but today that name usually refers to Shore hardness; other devices use other measures, which return corresponding results, such as for Rockwell hardness.