#5: Rocks & Minerals

Even though I stopped collecting them a few years ago, I continue to be fascinated by the many rocks and minerals that I own. I started acquiring rocks on a small scale when I was ten or eleven until I eventually became a serious rock hound. Sadly, due to the area that I lived in, all I ended up doing was paying lots of money to order them online or buy them at stores. I eventually halted my spending spree and moved on to other nerdy things.

Recently, I have taken a new interest in my mineral collection, this time, from a chemistry perspective. I find it neat that most rocks are really just large, dense samples of simple compounds. For example, in the picture below, the big yellow rock on the bottom left is composed entirely of the element sulfur. In fact, on a few occasions I have actually chipped off a piece in order to smash it up and use it in an experiment. While grinding stones in a mortar and pestle may not seem like the most efficient way to find substances, it is, when you think about it, how most materials are obtained in the real world. The truth is, rocks and minerals are really just chemicals in their raw, sometimes pretty, but usually ugly form.

Through the years I accumulated quite a few remarkable specimens.

I placed my smaller rocks in tackle boxes.

It's clear to see that minerals come in a variety of shapes and colors.