Mechanical weathering increases the rate of chemical weathering. As rock breaks into smaller pieces, the surface area of the pieces increases. With more surfaces exposed, there are more places for chemical weathering to occur. Let’s say you wanted to make some hot chocolate on a cold day. It would be hard to get a big chunk of chocolate to dissolve in your milk or hot water. Maybe you could make hot chocolate from some smaller pieces like chocolate chips, but it is much easier to add a powder to your milk. This is because the smaller the pieces are, the more surface area they have. Smaller pieces dissolve more easily.
Sue and Ann were both having a glass of ice tea. Sue put 2 cubes of sugar into her tea. Ann decided to use granulated sugar and added the same amount of sugar to her tea. They both gave their tea a stir to dissolve the sugar before enjoying it.
Who's tea was ready last?