What is the difference between a rock, a mineral, an ore and a metal?
The earth is made of rocks and minerals. Rocks- A rock is made up of 2 or more minerals. You need minerals to make rocks, but you don’t need rocks to make minerals. All rocks are made of minerals. Minerals- A mineral is composed of the same substance throughout. There are about 3000 different minerals in the world. Minerals are made of chemicals – either a single chemical or a combination of chemicals.There are 103 known chemical elements. Minerals are sorted into 8 groups. Difference between rock and mineral- A rock is made up of 2 or more minerals, whereas a mineral is composed of the same substance throughout. Ore- A mineral occurring in sufficient quantity and containing enough metal to permit its recovery and extraction at a profit. Or, a mineral or an aggregate of minerals from which a valuable constituent, especially a metal, can be profitably mined or extracted is an ore. Metal- An alloy of two or more metallic elements. Difference- Metals are contained in ores, not vice versa.
