Rocks and meteorites have distinguishing characteristics.
If you've ever come across a rock that looked unusual or felt abnormally heavy for its size, you might have wondered if you were holding a meteorite. While it might seem logical to think all rocks are alike, the truth is earth rocks and meteorites are actually quite different from one another. Meteorites fall into three groups: stones, irons and stony-irons and by looking for a few key features, you can know if you have a rock or a meteorite.
Instructions
1. Perform the magnet test. Almost all meteorites contain iron and nickel. Even stone meteorites contain enough iron to attract a good magnet. Iron and stony-iron meteorites contain so much iron that if they stick to a magnet, you may have difficulty separating them. Many earth rocks will attract magnets, so while this is not a clear-cut test, it can help you distinguish between a rock and a meteorite.
2. Check the weight. Meteorites are dense and they will feel heavier than an earth rock approximately the same size.
3. Check the surface. Meteorites experience intense heat traveling through the atmosphere. They will look much darker than earth rocks. In fact, a meteorite that has just fallen to the earth will be covered with a rich, black crust uncommon to earth rocks.
4. Look for regmaglypts and flow lines. Regmaglypts are thumbprint-like impressions made on meteorites as some of the surface is burned away as it comes through the atmosphere. Earth rocks will not generally have these round, peanut shaped depressions over their surface. Flow lines look like thin wrinkles or tiny strands of hair on the surface of the meteorites and these characteristics are exclusive to meteorites.
5. Look for vesicles. Earth rocks have these small holes, or cavities, created by escaping gases. Meteorites will not have these kinds of formations.
6. Check for sharp edges. Most meteorites will not have sharp, jagged edges, unless they have been broken. Sharp edges are common for many types of earth rocks.
7. Look for quartz. If you see crystal-like structures or flakes in a rock, it is not a meteorite. Quartz is specific to earth.
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