Just the other night, I watched this documentary on "The Learning Channel" and it was a special on meteorites. I want to know what are meteorites? Are they just a big ball of dirt or a big rock, that hovers in space? what are meteorites made of? and how are they different from the soil and rocks we have on earth?

-- Keophakone Mune-Ath (keomuneath@hotmail.com), April 16, 2001

Answers

Meteorites are not just a big ball of dirt actually meteorites are bits of the solar system that have fallen to the earth. Most meteorites come from asteroids and few come from comets. There are generally three types of meteorites which are siderites, aerolites, and siderolites. Siderites are composed of metal, aerolites is composed of silicon and magnesium oxides and siderolites are composed of metal and stone. THis is how they differ soil is made up og ground fragments of rocks soil also contain decaying organic matter, water,and air and does not fall from the solar system. Rocks are usually made of a mixture of mineral grains. For ex. the sedimentary rock is formed by bits of the earth that were washed downstream and had settled to the bottom of rivers, lakes, and oceans. Layer after layer of eroded earth is deposited on top of each and a rock is formed. So they are different because they are composed of different things and they are also different because they function for different purposes. For example soil is a contributing factor to the growth of a plant and rocks are a contributing factor to the past. I received this info. from askjeeves.com

-- Tanya Flowers (flowers@oswego.edu), April 16, 2001.