Answer:
Minerals are the basic building blocks of rocks, which means rocks are made up of different combinations of minerals or just one mineral in some cases. Figure 2.1a is an example of a rock called granite, which is made up of a combination minerals. A mineral is a naturally occurring, usually inorganic, solid that can be defined by a chemical formula and a crystal structure. Figures 2.1b and 2.1c are two other types of rocks, sandstone and gneiss, that contain the same minerals as the granite in Figure 2.1a. Even though they contain the same minerals, all three of these rocks formed in different ways. We’ll get to that a little later, so for now, let’s focus on minerals.
