Meteorites burn and wear out in the atmosphere, and their shapes are round and without edges or corners.
Melting craters: There are pits of different sizes and depths on the surface of meteorites, that is, erosion pits. Many meteorites also have shallow and long airmarks, which may be left by the shedding of low-melting minerals.
Melted crust: When a meteorite passes through the atmosphere, the extremely high temperature causes the surface of the meteorite to melt, producing a micron to millimeter-level vitreous layer, which is called the molten crust. When a meteorite exists on the surface for a long time, its molten crust is easily weathered and disappears.
Specific gravity: because meteorites contain iron and nickel, the specific gravity of iron meteorites can reach 8, and stony meteorites often contain 20 iron and nickel, which are larger than ordinary rocks. However, there are very few stony meteorites (such as carbonaceous chondrites, etc.) because they contain no or very low metal content, and their density is similar to that of ordinary earth rocks.
Magnetism: Various meteorites have varying strengths of magnetism because they contain iron. Weathered meteorites are not magnetic, so they are not considered meteorites.
Streaks: When a meteorite rubs on an unglazed porcelain plate, there are generally no streaks or only light gray streaks, while the streaks of iron ore are black or brown-red to distinguish.