Minerals form when rocks are heated enough that atoms of different elements can move around and join into different molecules.

• A. Minerals form when rocks cool and harden magma.
• B. Minerals form when rocks are dissolved in water.
• C. Minerals form when rocks are heated enough that atoms of different elements can move around and join into different molecules.
• D. Minerals form when rocks are weathered by wind.

Answer: (C)

When rocks are heated to high enough temperatures, atoms gain energy and can move more freely. This diffusion allows existing minerals to break down and new minerals to form as atoms rearrange into stable crystal structures. That warming-and-rearranging process is how minerals crystallize under metamorphic conditions, so this option matches the idea of mineral formation driven by heat and atomic mobility.

The other scenarios involve cooling from melt, dissolution in water, or weathering by wind, which are different pathways and don’t describe minerals forming through heating and atom rearrangement.