What does rocks contain?

Question

why r they solid for years

Answer 1

Rocks are composed of various minerals, which are defined as "naturally occurring inorganic substances." These minerals are composed of compounds of elements - a good example would be calcium carbonate, which makes up a large proportion of many limestones - CaCO3 (the Ca represents one molecule of caclium, and three carbonate groups, which in turn are made from one carbon and three oxygen atoms).

It's worth pointing out that not everything on Earth is carbon based, as the above answer pointed out. Only life is carbon based, although carbon may certainly occur in rocks, though it is not a requirement. Many rocks contain elements and compounds such as silica (SiO3), potassium, sodium, oxygen (bonded to other elements, see silica and calcium carbonate), as well as metals such as iron, nickel, cobalt, copper etc.

One of the reasons rocks have existed for millions of years is their resistance to weathering. Many minerals can withstand intensive erosion. Also, many rocks make up the bedrock, which isn't exposed to the effects of erosion and weathering - they can remain below the surface for hundreds of millions of years before being uplifted by tectonism. Furthermore, many rocks are heavily compacted, increasing their resistance to simply crumbling away - compare some dry sand and some sandstone and you'll see what I mean - many sandstones are just compacted and slightly cemented sand.

Answer 2

rocks are made of many minerals that have been forced together.

Answer 3

rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids

Answer 4

Rock

noun (plural rocks)

1.  hard mineral aggregate: any consolidated material consisting of more than one mineral and, sometimes, organic material, e.g. granite or limestone  

2.  Rockprojecting mass of rock: a large mass of mineral material, especially an isolated or projecting one (often used in placenames)

Ayers Rock



3.  boulder: a large stone or boulder  

4.  dependable person: a stable, dependable, or supportive person or thing, especially in times of trouble  

5.  hard sweet: a hard, often brightly coloured sweet made from boiled sugar, usually in the form of a long cylindrical stick and sometimes with the name of a seaside resort through it

a stick of Blackpool rock



6.  gem: a large gemstone, especially a diamond (informal)  

7.  drugs crack cocaine: crack cocaine, or a small piece of crack cocaine (slang)  

8.  fish Same as rockfish (sense 2)

Answer 5

Rocks are made up from lots of minerals and minerals are made up from lots of elements. A prime element is carbon. Basically everything on earth is made up of carbon, and when put together correctly, it is very stronger. Rocks are formed during lots of heat and pressure and this makes them strong. All the bonds are taken keeping the rock together.

Answer 6

Oh, what a question.  Chemistry is the answer.  No way to teach enough to even cover the basics here.

In a nutshell, there are something like 92 naturally occurring elements, and these elements join together to make compounds.  Some of the compounds are more stable than others (strong energy savings by joining the elements together) and thus a really lot of energy is needed to make them not solid (turn into gas or liquid).  There just isn't that amount of energy around, so the compounds (which we call minerals when they are solids) stay as they are for, well, sometimes, billions of years.  

Silicon oxides are the basic framework for most rock-forming minerals.  By far the majority of minerals (and thus the rocks you see) are composed of variations on the silicon oxide network.  Carbonates, sulfides, oxides, oxy-hydroxides, native elements, and a bunch of other less common mineral forms also are present in varying amounts.

Sorry I do not know how to make it more simple.