Meteorite Hunting and Physics Education

Abstract

In the recent years meteorite hunting has turned to a well-known recreational activity and become popular among children and the youth. Being such a tempting area of practice, meteorite prospecting draws attention and brings pleasure to the involved individuals thus predisposing them to get acquainted with the hidden secrets and underlying nature of meteorites and the methods and physical laws that make finding meteorites using machines possible. The current article tries to explain why meteorite hunting may attract students to physics and help them better understand certain phenomena of astrophysics and physics. The student may learn much about meteorite structure, chemistry, astrophysical origins, meteoroid atmosphere entry and mechanical dispersion and finally and most importantly the physics of electromagnetism, on which are based the modern meteorite searching metal detectors.