I feel like I’m missing a part of basic chemistry understanding. What happens to rock on a molecular level when it melts? Does its composition change? Do all things melt under the right conditions?
In: Chemistry
Not chemistry, melting is *physics*. Heat is basically the amount of random physical motion of the particles of a substance, the atoms and molecules all jiggling around. When something melts it is because that jiggling has become great enough to prevent the molecules of the substance staying linked to specific neighbors, and instead can all move around and trade neighbors.
Melted rock is still rock, the same substances as it was before. All substances can melt under the right circumstances, a combination of heat and pressure.
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