Place a charcoal briquette into a plastic sandwich bag. Lightly hammer the bag enough to break apart the briquette, taking care not to damage the surface that the bagged briquette is on. 1. Examine the broken pieces of charcoal with a hand lens. Describe what kinds of grains you see and their texture. 2. Charcoal is made by allowing wood to smolder just enough that an impure mass of carbon remains. In the presence of oxygen, the charcoal briquette will naturally combine with oxygen to make carbon dioxide. Over a period of many years, it will all react with oxygen and chemically weather to carbon dioxide. When you burn charcoal in your grill, you are simply speeding up the process. However, if plant fragments (peat) are buried beneath layers of sediment that keep oxygen away from them, then they can slowly convert to a charcoal-like material called coal, which is stable for millions of years. Obtain a piece of coal and compare it to your charcoal. How is it different