How are rocks different from minerals?

Rocks are different from minerals in that minerals are single crystalline accumulations of one or more elements, while rocks are solid accumulations of one or more minerals. Rock can either refer to a particular, detached object or, in a general sense, as a synonym for stone, generally referring to a portion of the substance. read more

Minerals make up rocks. Rocks and minerals are related but they have different characteristics. A person, for example, has organs like a liver or a stomach, but when the parts are put together they form a person. read more

Each of these rocks consists of several different minerals, which are mixed up inside the rock through a variety of geologic processes. Let's take granite, for example. Granite is mostly composed of three minerals: quartz, feldspar and mica. read more