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Why do meteorites burn up?

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Russelldg

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15y ago
Updated: 8/18/2019

They burn up because of friction in the atmosphere

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15y ago

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Related Questions

Many more meteorites reach the surface of the moon because?

Many more meteorites reach the surface of the moon because it lacks an atmosphere to burn up incoming objects, unlike Earth. This means that the moon's surface retains more impact craters from these meteorite strikes compared to Earth.


What two objects produce meteorites?

comets and asteroids


-More meteorites reach the surface of the moon than the Earth Why?

Most of the meteorites which reach Earth burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere due the heat caused by friction. The moon has no atmosphere.


Do meteorites become extinct like stars do?

I suppose there are more meteorites that become extinct than stars. Meteorites burn up in the atmosphere every night. Not only on this planet, but planets all around the universe. Some survive but get destroyed when crash-landing into a planet. A lot of meteorites also get sucked into stars.


What protects the earth from small meteorites while the earth's moon is?

The earth's atmosphere protects it from small meteorites - actually the specific part is the mesosphere. When meteorites contact this part of the atmosphere they wither burn up or become very small. I don't understant the "earth's moon is" part, sorry.


Why are such a few meteorites found on earth?

Meteorites are rare on Earth because most burn up in the atmosphere or land in remote areas where they are not easily discovered. Additionally, the Earth's surface is mostly water, limiting the chances of meteorites being found. Lastly, some meteorites may be small and difficult to distinguish from ordinary rocks.


Why do meteorites reach the surface of the Moon then the surface of the Earth?

More reach the surface of the moon because there is no atmosphere to heat and burn them up.


Do meteorites hit Earth?

all the time, but the meteorites just burn up in the atmosphere, this is caused by the thick atmosphere on earth, which generate a huge friction between the meteorites and the air molecules. You can actually see the it burning up in the sky, commonly known as falling stars. But it is not all meteors, which burn up in the atmosphere, it just have to be big enough to sustain its shape all the way to the ground, but this only happens rarely. but as you can see on mars it has a lot of craters, and that is simply because the atmosphere is much thinner.


Why are there thousands of craters on the moon?

The moon doesn't have an atmosphere, so meteorites hit the surface and create the craters. Earth's atmosphere causes most meteorites to burn up due to air friction before the meteorite can crash on to the surface. A 'shooting-star' is a meteorite burning up in the sky.


Why don't meteors first burn up when they first enter earths atmosphere?

It takes a while for air friction to heat them through. Also some are massive enough that they never burn up but hit the earth instead, becoming what we call meteorites.


Is a meteorite always magnetic?

No, not all meteorites are magnetic. Only a subset of meteorites called iron meteorites are typically magnetic due to the presence of iron-nickel alloys. Other types of meteorites, such as stony or stony-iron meteorites, are not magnetic.


How can you tell that the moon has been bombarded with meteorites?

The impact craters on the moon's surface are obvious clues to the fact that meteorites have crashed into our natural satellite. that tell us that the moon doesn't have oxygen because if it have oxygen the meteorites would burn