What types of rock are chewable?

Question

I was told that there is a kind of rock that is soft enough to be bitten and chewed, what kind is it? I can't find anything about this on the internet.

Answer 1

Obviously not most of them. It depends how strong your teeth are. Probably a person's teeth are strongest when the individual is most healthy, like around age 20 or something or 25.



The softest geological substances are probably clay and silt found in a river, which are too soft to be considered rock. (Maybe they are easy listening). People eat one kind of clay called Kaolin that comes from the state of Georgia in the US, and some other kinds too, for minerals I think. (I had some once!)



Then the softest rock would be made from clay and not very solidly formed yet. As time goes on and more pressure affects the silt and clay then it goes more towards being a rock. I think there's no natural division between soft rock and hard clay, it's a gradual process. So probably you could find some that's kind of hard to chew and then you could argue with people about whether it's rock or not. That is the most I can tell you since I am not a geologist. The scale of hardness is called Moh's Scale I think and it assigns hardness levels to objects based on what kind of object can scratch what other kind of object (sort of like the card game of War).



Also I found a nice web site with a Moh's Scale of Hardness for science fiction to find out what different kinds of science fiction there are.



EDIT - I forgot to say there are other obstacles to chewing rocks like the jaw muscles can be fatigued; there may be undesirable minerals in the rocks; the rocks may taste really bad; the rocks can wear down the teeth gradually even though the teeth are hard enough to chew a few rocks it could be a bad practice in the long run.

Answer 2

Most likely anything with a hardness of less than 3 on mohs hardness scale. Talc, gypsum.

Don't forget halite and sylvite (table salt and a bitter salt substitute respectively) Silts, clays, micas and be bitten through but it depends on the size and some schists like the specular hematite schist of upper peninsula of Michigan can be soft if you bite in the right direction on a small enough piece.



Other than salt (halite) why would you want to bite a rock anyway? Is this some biblical question. The temptation of Jesus by Satan?

Answer 3

You get them in any seaside town in England, they usually come as 'sticks' of rock but sometimes they are pebble shaped. You need very strong teeth as they are full of hardened sugar, I like the rainbow ones best!

Answer 4

Hi, Blackpool rock is my favorite, i have lost several teeth through eating it.

Answer 5

all rocks are chewable. obviously. it's my favorite snack :)