Okay, so imagine you have a cookie. You know it's a cookie, but you don't know what's in it. So you take a little piece and study it closely to figure out what ingredients were used to make it.
Now, scientists do the same thing with coal. They want to know what kind of stuff is in it, so they take a sample and analyze it. This is called a coal assay.
They'll look at things like how much carbon, sulfur, and ash are in the coal. Carbon is like the flour in the cookie that holds it together, sulfur is a seasoning that can make the coal burn less cleanly and ash is like the crumbs that are left over.
The scientists will also test the coal's moisture content, which is like how moist or dry the cookie is. This can affect how well the coal will burn.
Once they have all this information, they can decide how useful the coal will be for things like making electricity or heat. Just like you might decide if a cookie is worth eating based on its ingredients!