What is Weathering?

Weathering is when rock breaks into smaller pieces because it gets worn down over time.

Imagine you have a big chocolate bar. If you keep breaking off small pieces every day, maybe by biting, or pushing it around, eventually the whole bar will be gone. That’s like what happens to rock in nature.

Sometimes, weathering is like being on a beach. The waves hit the rock over and over again. Each wave knocks off tiny bits of the rock, just like how the sea wears away the shore. This kind of wearing down is called physical weathering, because it’s the rock being broken apart by forces around it.

Other times, it's more like your chocolate melting in a hot kitchen. Heat can make the rock change shape or even crack, this is called chemical weathering. It’s not just getting hit; sometimes it’s changing from the inside out.

So whether it’s being knocked apart by waves or slowly melting by heat, weathering is how big rocks become smaller pieces that can eventually turn into soil and sand.