Difference between Phase, heterogenous and state of matter and solution

My question has already been answered in parts at [Difference between state of matter and phase](https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/38325/difference-between-state-of-matter-and-phase)


But for deep and real understanding I have to ask for the difference between phase and a heterogenous mixture :


Say we have a bowl made of glass. The bowl is filled with a few different solid rocks on the ground, water in the middle and some oil on top.


I try to analyse this situation for understanding:


* There is a phase of oil on the top
* There is a phase of water in the middle
* There is a phase of rocks on the ground
* Since the rocks on the ground are not equally the same they are a bunch of single phases that do not mix up to each other
* The rocks on the ground are also a heterogenous mixture
* The air above the water is a phase of gas
* The glass is a solid phase of silicon


Is that correct?




**A deep and real understanding?!?**


I don't think you'll find any definitions that you can't pick at. 


So if in a large bottle you mix some water and benzene that don't fill the bottle then you'll end up with three phases. A gas phase that has air/water/benzene, a liquid phase that is mostly benzene with a tiny amount of water, and another liquid phase that is mostly water with a tiny amount of benzene. 


So if I just take some random rocks (different kinds of rocks) and dump then into a bowl of water, then yes there is a solid phase. But as a chemist I wouldn't really think of the random rocks as a phase because there really isn't much of an equilibrium. Picking at this I'd have to admit that a minuscule amount of rock would dissolve in the water. Hence there would be an equilibrium of sorts between the various rocks too. 


What we'd normally consider a glass is a mixture of silica and other minerals. However amorphous solids are also referred to as glasses. 


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