[meteorite-list] Question about oriented meteorites

From: Sterling K. Webb <kelly_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Dec 6 02:03:24 2004
Message-ID: <41B40417.FA1778E7_at_bhil.com>

Hi, Jason, and All,

    Half right. Way too light to be iron, but way too heavy to be stone
(with densities generally below 3). But if you mix roughly equal volumes
of iron (at 7-8) with stone (at 3 or so), you get an object in the 4.5 to
5.5 density range. Good examples are the Earth or the planet Mercury, or
on a smaller scale, a stoney-iron meteorite!
    On the other hand, one should never accept a reporter's word on math
or meteorites at face value.

Sterling K. Webb
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Jason Utas wrote:

> Hello Rob and All,
> In Response to this:
>
> >> "The object weighing 47.015 kg with a 4.75 specific gravity was
> >> fallen..."
> ...
> > it could still be another type of meteorite (meso or pallasite?)
> >Rob [Matson]
>
> A mesosiderite or pallasite seems pretty improbable -- if the density
> of iron is 7.874g/cm^3,
> then either this meteorite has verrry little iron in it and is a stony
> or it's made of half iron and half air (or some other nearly
> weightless substance [yeah right]).
>
> The Kid
Received on Mon 06 Dec 2004 02:02:47 AM PST