WHAT ARE ROCKS

Making up the majority of the Earth's crust, rock is customarily defined as a

mixture of common minerals. Rocks can be hard or soft, as minute as a grain or
as huge as a building. The minerals and metals we find in rocks are essential to
the prosperity and cultural splendour of human civilization. There are many
kinds of rocks such as igneous rocks, metamorphic rocks and sedimentary
rocks. Igneous rocks are formed directly from liquid rock while metamorphic
rocks are formed by alteration of existing rocks. And finally, sedimentary rocks
are formed by eroded materials from other rocks. This is known as rock cycle.


ROCK CYCLE
The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can transform into
sedimentary rock or into metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can transform
into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock. Metamorphic rock can transform
into igneous or sedimentary rock.
Igneous rock forms when magma cools and makes crystals. Magma is a hot
liquid composed of melted minerals. The minerals can compose crystals when
they cool. Magma is called lava when it pours out on Earth.


Water and wind can break rock into pieces and also carry rock pieces to another
place. Usually, the rock pieces, called sediments, drop from the wind or water to
make a layer. The layer can be buried under other layers of sediments. After a
long time the sediments can be cemented together to make sedimentary rock.
All rocks can be heated. Inside Earth, heat is produced from pressure, friction
and radioactive decay. This heat will then bake the rocks.
This will prevent the rock from melting but the rock then changes form. It will
become crystal. This changes is knows as metamorphosis. Metamorphosis can
occur in rock when they are heated from 300 to 700 degrees Celsius. The rock
cycle continues.

IDENTYFYING ROCK( GRANITE)
There are two ways indicates rocks formation. First is composition where it
refers to what a rock is made of and secondly is the texture. It is a description of
the rock material. It includes characteristics such as crystal size and shape,
number of different grain sizes, and alignment of grains.
Granite is a type of igneous rock that is very abundant and found all over the
world. There are three main minerals of granite which are quartz, padgoclez and
potassium feldspar. Granite can be identify by the colours of the rock. The
mineral composition gives granite a red, pink ,gray or white colour .Granites are
formed by slowly cooling pockets of magma that were trapped beneath the
Earths surface. Granite normally used for long lasting monuments and for trim
and decorations on buildings.
Example of metamorphic rock is folded gneiss. Folded gneiss is composed by
the transmutation in heat and pressure in sedimentary or igneous rocks. Folded
gneiss can be optically discerned widely in mountains as the mineral grains in
the rock flattened and arranged in alternating patterns.

Granite Folded Gneiss















Reference
http://earth.rice.edu/mtpe/geo/geosphere/topics/rocks_a.html
http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/msese/earthsysflr/rock.html
http://www.ask.com/question/what
rohttp://www.sciencephoto.com/media/395262/viewcks-make-up-granite