WHAT ARE ROCKS AND MINERALS?
Although rocks and minerals are often mentioned together, and to some people they have similar meanings, geologists make a distinction between the two words. In general, rocks are made up of minerals, and minerals are made up of chemical [elements].
Chemical [Elements]
The chemical [elements] include oxygen, silicon, calcium, [sulfur], carbon, [gold], silver, and many others. There are 90 naturally occurring elements. Each is made up of molecules that consist of only one kind of atom. Chemical elements may either be combined with each other or occur alone. They are the building blocks of our world for they make up all the gases, all the liquids, all the minerals, all the plant and animal life, and all the other physical matter. Some of the chemical elements that occur in the rocks and minerals mentioned in this book are listed below.
| Aluminum | Al |
| Barium | Ba |
| Beryllium | Be |
| Boron | B |
| Calcium | Ca |
| Carbon | C |
| Cerium | Ce |
| Chlorine | Cl |
| Copper | Cu |
| Fluorine | F |
| [Gold] | Au |
| Hydrogen | H |
| Iron | Fe |
| Lead | Pb |
| Magnesium | Mg |
| Manganese | Mn |
| Mercury | Hg |
| Molybdenum | Mo |
| Oxygen | O |
| Potassium | K |
| Silicon | Si |
| Silver | Ag |
| Sodium | Na |
| Strontium | Sr |
| [Sulfur] | S |
| Thorium | Th |
| Tin | Sn |
| Uranium | U |
| Vanadium | V |
| Yttrium | Y |
| Zinc | Zn |
| Zirconium | Zr |
We can compare the chemical [elements] to the letters of our alphabet. The letters, like the chemical elements, are fundamental building blocks, and they can be brought together in various combinations to form words.