Suppose you find a meteorite made almost entirely of metal. According to current science, which of the following statements must be true?
A)Your meteorite was blasted off the surface of Mars by an impact.
B)Your meteorite is a fragment of an object from the Kuiper belt.
C)Your meteorite is a fragment from the core of a large asteroid that shattered in a collision.
D)Radiometric dating will show the age of your meteorite to date to the formation of our solar system.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The fact that the meteorite is made mostly of metal suggests that it came from the core of a larger object, such as an asteroid. Option A is not necessarily true and option B is unlikely since the Kuiper belt is composed of icy objects, not metal. Option D is also not necessarily true as different meteorites can have different ages based on when they were last heated or exposed to radiation.

Suppose You Find a Meteorite Made Almost Entirely of Metal