Coal

Slate

Coal vs Slate

Coal

Slate

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1 Definition

1.1 Definition

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers called coal beds

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism

1.2 History

1.2.1 Origin

USA

England

1.2.2 Discoverer

John Peter Salley

Unknown

1.3 Etymology

From the Old English term col, which has meant mineral of fossilized carbon since the 13th century

From Old French esclate, from esclat (French éclat)

1.4 Class

Sedimentary Rocks

Metamorphic Rocks

1.4.1 Sub-Class

Durable Rock, Soft Rock

Durable Rock, Medium Hardness Rock

1.5 Family

1.5.1 Group

Not Applicable

1.6 Other Categories

Coarse Grained Rock, Fine Grained Rock, Medium Grained Rock, Opaque Rock

Fine Grained Rock, Opaque Rock

2 Texture

2.1 Texture

Amorphous, Glassy

Foliated

2.2 Color

Black, Brown, Dark Brown, Grey, Light to Dark Grey

Black, Brown, Buff, Green, Light to Dark Grey, Purple, Red, Shades of Blue

2.3 Maintenance

Less

2.4 Durability

Durable

2.4.1 Water Resistant

✔ ✘

2.4.2 Scratch Resistant

✔ ✘

2.4.3 Stain Resistant

✔ ✘

2.4.4 Wind Resistant

✔ ✘

2.4.5 Acid Resistant

✔ ✘

2.5 Appearance

Veined or Pebbled

Dull

3 Uses

3.1 Architecture

3.1.1 Interior Uses

Not Yet Used

Bathrooms, Decorative Aggregates, Entryways, Floor Tiles, Flooring, Homes, Hotels, Interior Decoration, Kitchens, Stair Treads

3.1.2 Exterior Uses

Not Yet Used

As Building Stone, As Facing Stone, Garden Decoration, Paving Stone

3.1.3 Other Architectural Uses

Not Yet Used

Curbing

3.2 Industry

3.2.1 Construction Industry

Cement Manufacture, for Road Aggregate, Making natural cement, Steel Production

As Dimension Stone

3.2.2 Medical Industry

Not Yet Used

3.3 Antiquity Uses

Artifacts

Artifacts, Monuments, Sculpture, Small Figurines

3.4 Other Uses

3.4.1 Commercial Uses

Alumina Refineries, Electricity Generation, Liquid Fuel, Manufacture of Soap, Solvents, Dyes, Plastics and Fibres, Paper Industry

Blackboards, Commemorative Tablets, Laboratory bench tops, Standard material for the bed of Billiard table, Standard material for the beds of Pool and Snooker table, Tombstones, Used in aquariums, Writing Slates

4 Types

4.1 Types

Peat, Lignite, Sub-Bituminous Coal, Bituminous Coal, Anthracite, Graphite

Not Available

4.2 Features

Helps in production of Heat and Electricity, Used as fossil fuel

Easily splits into thin plates, Surfaces are often shiny, Very fine grained rock

4.3 Archaeological Significance

4.3.1 Monuments

Not Yet Used

Used

4.3.2 Famous Monuments

Not Applicable

Data Not Available

4.3.3 Sculpture

Not Yet Used

Used

4.3.4 Famous Sculptures

Not Applicable

Data Not Available

4.3.5 Pictographs

Not Used

Used

4.3.6 Petroglyphs

Not Used

Used

4.3.7 Figurines

Not Yet Used

Used

4.4 Fossils

Present

Absent

5 Formation

5.1 Formation

Coal forms from the accumulation of plant debris in a swamp environment which is buried by sediments such as mud or sand and then compacted to form coal.

Slate is a low grade metamorphic rock that is generally formed by metamorphosis of mudstone or shale, under relatively low pressure and temperature conditions.

5.2 Composition

5.2.1 Mineral Content

Analcime, Apatite, Barite, Calcite, Chalcopyrite, Chlorite, Chromite, Clausthalite, Clay Minerals, Crandallite Group, Dolomite, Feldspar, Galena, Gypsum, Marcasite, Muscovite or Illite, Pyrite, Quartz, Siderite, Sphalerite, Zircon

Apatite, Biotite, Chlorite, Feldspar, Graphite, Hematite, Kaolinite, Magnetite, Pyrite, Tourmaline, Zircon

5.2.2 Compound Content

Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Sulphur

Aluminium Oxide, CaO, Iron(III) Oxide, Potassium Oxide, MgO, Sodium Oxide, Silicon Dioxide, Titanium Dioxide

5.3 Transformation

5.3.1 Metamorphism

✔ ✘

5.3.2 Types of Metamorphism

Burial Metamorphism, Cataclastic Metamorphism, Regional Metamorphism

5.3.3 Weathering

✔ ✘

5.3.4 Types of Weathering

Not Applicable

Biological Weathering, Chemical Weathering, Mechanical Weathering

5.3.5 Erosion

✔ ✘

5.3.6 Types of Erosion

Not Applicable

Coastal Erosion, Glacier Erosion, Water Erosion, Wind Erosion

6 Properties

6.1 Physical Properties

6.1.1 Hardness

1-1.53-4

1 7

6.1.2 Grain Size

Medium to Fine Coarse Grained

Very fine-grained

6.1.3 Fracture

Conchoidal

Splintery

6.1.4 Streak

Black

Light to dark brown

6.1.5 Porosity

Less Porous

6.1.6 Luster

Dull to Vitreous to Submetallic

Dull

6.1.7 Compressive Strength

NA30.00 N/mm²

0.15 450

6.1.8 Cleavage

Non-Existent

Slaty

6.1.9 Toughness

Not Available

1.2

6.1.10 Specific Gravity

1.1-1.42.65-2.8

0 8.4

6.1.11 Transparency

Opaque

6.1.12 Density

1100-1400 g/cm³2.6-2.8 g/cm³

0 1400

6.2 Thermal Properties

6.2.1 Specific Heat Capacity

1.32 kJ/Kg K0.76 kJ/Kg K

0.14 3.2

6.2.2 Resistance

Heat Resistant

Heat Resistant, Impact Resistant, Pressure Resistant, Wear Resistant

7 Reserves

7.1 Deposits in Eastern Continents

7.1.1 Asia

Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Turkey, Vietnam

China, India, Turkey

7.1.2 Africa

Botswana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania

Not Yet Found

7.1.3 Europe

Belgium, Bulgaria, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, The Czech Republic, Ukraine, United Kingdom

Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom

7.1.4 Others

Not Yet Found

Arctic

7.2 Deposits in Western Continents

7.2.1 North America

Canada, Mexico, USA

USA

7.2.2 South America

Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Venezuela

Brazil

7.3 Deposits in Oceania Continent

7.3.1 Australia

New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria

Not Yet Found

Coal vs Slate Information

Earth’s outer layer is covered by rocks and these rocks have different physical and chemical properties. As two rocks are not same, it’s fun to compare them. You can also know more about Coal and Slate Reserves. Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers called coal beds. Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. These rocks are composed of many distinct minerals. The process of formation of rocks is different for various rocks. Rocks are quarried from many years for various purposes. You can check out Coal vs Slate information and Coal vs Slate characteristics in the upcoming sections.

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Coal vs Slate Characteristics

Though some rocks look identical, they have certain characteristics which distinguish them from others. Characteristics of rocks include texture, appearance, color, fracture, streak, hardness etc. Coal vs Slate characteristics assist us to distinguish and recognize rocks. Also you can check about Properties of Coal and Properties of Slate. Learn more about Coal vs Slate in the next section. The interior uses of Coal include Not yet used whereas the interior uses of Slate include Bathrooms, Decorative aggregates, Entryways, Floor tiles, Flooring, Homes, Hotels, Interior decoration, Kitchens and Stair treads. Due to some exceptional properties of Coal and Slate, they have various applications in construction industry. The uses of Coal in construction industry include Cement manufacture, For road aggregate, Making natural cement, Steel production and that of Slate include As dimension stone.

More about Coal and Slate

Here you can know more about Coal and Slate. The life cycle of a rock consists of formation of rock, composition of rock and transformation of rock. The composition of Coal and Slate consists of mineral content and compound content. The mineral content of Coal includes Analcime, Apatite, Barite, Calcite, Chalcopyrite, Chlorite, Chromite, Clausthalite, Clay Minerals, Crandallite Group, Dolomite, Feldspar, Galena, Gypsum, Marcasite, Muscovite or Illite, Pyrite, Quartz, Siderite, Sphalerite, Zircon and mineral content of Slate includes Apatite, Biotite, Chlorite, Feldspar, Graphite, Hematite, Kaolinite, Magnetite, Pyrite, Tourmaline, Zircon. You can also check out the list of all Sedimentary Rocks. When we have to compare Coal vs Slate, the texture, color and appearance plays an important role in determining the type of rock. Coal is available in black, brown, dark brown, grey, light to dark grey colors whereas, Slate is available in black, brown, buff, green, light to dark grey, purple, red, shades of blue colors. Appearance of Coal is Veined or Pebbled and that of Slate is Dull. Properties of rock is another aspect for Coal vs Slate. The hardness of Coal is 1-1.5 and that of Slate is 3-4. The types of Coal are Peat, Lignite, Sub-Bituminous Coal, Bituminous Coal, Anthracite, Graphite whereas types of Slate are Not Available. Streak of rock is the color of powder produced when it is dragged across an unweathered surface. The streak of Coal is black while that of Slate is light to dark brown. The specific heat capacity of Coal is 1.32 kJ/Kg K and that of Slate is 0.76 kJ/Kg K. Depending on the properties like hardness, toughness, specific heat capacity, porosity etc., rocks are resistant to heat, wear, impact, etc.Coal is heat resistant whereas Slate is heat resistant, impact resistant, pressure resistant, wear resistant.