wiki Word:☺METEORITE☺

Definition:  A meteorite is a chunk of space rock that has survived an impact to Earth.

 About 86% of the meteorites found are  chondrites wich are named for the chondrules, (silicate minerals). These chondites that have been found are estimated to be approxomitly 4.55 BILLION YEARS OLD and have thought to have been a part of the astroid belt that never formed into large bodies. Another 5% of meteorites found are achondrites, some similar to ignious rock. Stony iorn meteorites make up the other 1%. The way we know all of this is because hobbiest geologists collect these rocks. one factor that can throw the scientists off is that when entering our atmosphere, the specimen (sample) burns up do to friction. Due to this, some layers might burn up, or mabye worse, so they might be hard to determine where it came from. Most of the meteorites that are found are examined

 very closely by geologists. What they do is first they study the exterior surface features. Then they take a core sample ( they drill into it, cut it open, give it a cross section, ect.) to see the strata (layers of sediment, often also reffered to as beds). They do this to see where the rock came from, its enviornment, ect. A great way for you to remember which one is a meteor(opposed to a meteor or meteoroid) is to remember that a meteorite is right next to you.

an example of the meteorites found on earth by scientists & geologists.

This applied to our class when we did our martain rocks lab and cored our meteorites to look for strata. Also it applied to our class when we studied surface features and impact crators.

 http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/meteorites     www.google.com/images/meteorites