eli5 – what’s the difference between rocks, minerals, gems, gemstones, crystals, geodes, etc?
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Rock: a generic term for hard inorganic non-metallic things made from multiple minerals blended together.
Mineral: a hard inorganic thing with a specific chemical composition.
Crystal: a particular atomic structure taken by some minerals.
Geode: a particular physical arrangement involving minerals, usually in crystal form, on the inside of a hollow rock.
Gems: minerals that humans have subjectively decided are very pretty.
Gemstone: same as gem.
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