# rock (material)

a portion of substance with a distinct boundary and a hard form

- Computed level: L14 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: everyday  ·  Arena: common

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [matter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-matter.substance), [boundary](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-boundary.limit), [distinct](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-distinct.attribute), [form](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-form.shape), [hard](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-hard.difficulty), [piece](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-piece.portion), [portion](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-portion.share), [substance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-substance.material)

**Through:** the substance and its boundary together maintain a fixed shape and resist deformation

**Novel properties:**
- coherent solid body
- persistent individuality
- resistance to external force

## Examples
- Mount Rushmore's granite facade eroded less than 2 millimeters since 1941 despite open-air exposure. *(geology)*
- The Curiosity rover analyzed a basaltic rock named 'Jake Matijevic' on Mars in 2012. *(space exploration)*
- The Rock of Gibraltar remained a strategic military outpost for British forces until 1981. *(institutions)*

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-rock.material*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-rock.material.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*