The forces of weather on the surface of the Earth can change the minerals that make up rocks. When mechanical weathering processes destroy old rocks, softer silicate minerals such as olivine and plagioclase may dissolve away, leaving behind harder minerals, such as quartz. In chemical weathering, the atoms react with oxygen or water in the environment. (Think of iron exposed for several months to the water and air outdoors. The iron rusts, and rusting is a kind of chemical weathering.) In the presence of water, some minerals transform into more hydrous minerals. Other minerals, such as calcite (calcium carbonate), dissolve completely in water over time. Some silicate minerals, such as quartz and garnet, are more resistant to weathering than other silicates, such as feldspar and mica.

One clue to a mineral's identity is the way a sample breaks off a larger piece of mineral. If the mineral breaks to form fairly flat and smooth surfaces - planes of weakness in the crystal structure - geologists call it "cleavage." Mica and graphite have excellent cleavage because their atoms have strong bonds with each other within crystal planes, but only weak bonds between the planes. In other minerals, the atomic bonds have approximately the same strength in all directions, so they do not break into flat pieces when struck by a hammer. Scientists call this "fracture," and they use several adjectives to describe it. A "conchoidal" fracture has smooth, curved surfaces, while a "hackly" fracture is jagged, with sharp edges. Fracture may also be fibrous, splintery, or irregular.

Many building materials - concrete, tiles, brick, glass, paint, plaster, and drywall - contain rocks or components derived from minerals. Quarries, or open-pit mines, produce crushed rocks, gravel, and sand of different grain sizes, known as aggregates. Coarsely crushed rocks and gravel are mixed with cement, a binding material that holds the aggregate in place to form concrete. The ancient Romans invented concrete, but after their empire fell, concrete technology was forgotten until the 18th century. Limestone, a sedimentary rock, and gypsum, a mineral in sedimentary deposits, are two key ingredients of cement. Sand and smaller particles of crushed rock go into making bricks. Finely ground gypsum is filler in paint, plaster, and drywall. While different types of glass used in buildings may have specialized ingredients and coatings, they are all mostly silica, or melted quartz sand.