What is the difference between meteoroid meteor and meteorite

Although majority of the meteorites are very small, their size can range from about a fraction of a gram the size of a pebble to kilograms or more the size of a huge, life-destroying boulder. These range in diameter from a few tens of meters up to about km, and they range in age from the recent times to more than two billion years. The discovery of a km wide crater in Mexico is suggested to be responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs over 66 million years ago.

This should then be frozen before the activity starts. Ask the students to name the objects that may be found in the Solar System and list them on a board. Pass around the rocks, explaining that they symbolise asteroids. Explain what an asteroid is using the background information and the following image Asteroid Gaspra.

Pass the comets around the class so the students can see what it is made of. You may wish to demonstrate how the tail is formed by slowly sliding it across a warm desk and looking at the tail that forms. Image note: The coloured blobs are stars — the different colours are because of the way the image was taken. Explain what a meteoroid is. Explain that many meteoroids are simply small pieces left over from the formation of the Solar System, which did not get formed into planets.

Show them how the comet has now melted and that the small rock fragments inside it have become meteoroids. Ask the students if they have ever heard of shooting stars, or if anyone has ever seen one.

If anyone knows what they are, ask them to try and explain. Explain that meteoroids move incredibly fast, and the Earth also orbits the Sun at a high speed. So if a meteoroid hits Earth, it will be moving very fast. Impact speeds can be up to 70 kilometres per second, which is the equivalent to , miles per hour or , kilometres per hour.

This is the equivalent of flying round the equator 8 times every hour. When an object travelling so fast hits our atmosphere, the air resistance is massive students may be able to relate this to the force felt in a car when driving with the windows down. The immense force causes the meteorite to burn, making it a meteor.

Tell the class that very few of the meteors formed are seen. Ask them to think about why this is the case. Ask the students why they are referred to as shooting stars. Discuss with the class what people in the past may have thought shooting stars were. The collection acts as a meteorite library for scientists. By studying different types of meteorites, scientists can learn more about asteroids, planets and other parts of our solar system. Because asteroids formed in the early days of our solar system nearly 4.

Asteroid or Meteor: What's the Difference? The Short Answer:. More about asteroids, meteors, and comets! What Is an Asteroid? What Is a Meteor Shower? All About Comets. If you liked this, you may like: What Is a Meteor Shower?

More Less. Information from Nasa and ESA. Meteor fires through night sky. Perseid Meteor Shower: When is it and how to see it? Comet to appear in UK skies. Geminid meteor shower How and where to watch it.

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Science Photo Library. Asteroids are usually lots of different shapes and are quite craggy - This one is called the Lutetia asteroid. This map of our solar system shows where the main asteroid belt sits, in space. Meteoroids can break off from asteroids. Some comets take a few years to travel around the Sun.