<p>Of all the meteorites that land on Earth's surface that are let's say pebble to fist sized, what fraction are for practical purposes non-magnetic<sup>1</sup>?</p>
<p>I think the number is around 10 or 20% but so far I haven't found a good source.</p>
<p>One challenge to getting a number is that theres a lot of bias; some people drag magnets around or use metal detectors and will miss the ones with low nickel/iron, and some people look in the top layers of snow in Antarctica and the dark ones might get warmer and sink quicker into the snow/ice.</p>
<p>Therefore with so much bias it might be hard to find a clear, authoritative answer. But maybe there is one.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> What fraction of meteorites found on Earth are for practical purposes non-magnetic?</p>
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<p><sup>1</sup>hold a small pocket or field magnet to it and don't notice any attractive force</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T12:57:39.760Z
MIght be fun to extend this to all non-orbiting (the sun) objects for which we can estimate atomic content via remote (spectral, etc) analysis.
Carl Witthoft
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T14:29:25.423Z
What do you mean by *practical purposes* -  What practical purpose do you envisage a meteorite being put to?
Chenmunka
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-08-31T14:42:42.400Z
@Chenmunka That's what the footnote attempts to clarify: "practical" in the sense of "practical for someone to test without specialist equipment", as opposed to "chemically provable to exhibit zero magnetism".
IMSoP
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-01T03:01:16.500Z
From the way I've heard collectors talk, I'd put it at a fraction of a percent, for ones that are actually found.
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-09-01T03:43:02.150Z
@GregMiller see the "bias" section of my question. Were you able to ascertain from their talk *what methods and methodologies they used to search, collect, and identify* their meteorites? If they were looking for dark metallic chunks with a bit of surface melting, or using a metal detector or dragging magnets behind them, then we can quickly guess that their results are so low for that reason alone.
uhoh
<meteorite>
What fraction of meteorites found on Earth are for practical purposes non-magnetic?
uhoh
# What fraction of meteorites found on Earth are for practical purposes non-magnetic?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-08-31)

Of all the meteorites that land on Earth's surface that are let's say pebble to fist sized, what fraction are for practical purposes non-magnetic1?

I think the number is around 10 or 20% but so far I haven't found a good source.

One challenge to getting a number is that theres a lot of bias; some people drag magnets around or use metal detectors and will miss the ones with low nickel/iron, and some people look in the top layers of snow in Antarctica and the dark ones might get warmer and sink quicker into the snow/ice.

Therefore with so much bias it might be hard to find a clear, authoritative answer. But maybe there is one.

**Question:** What fraction of meteorites found on Earth are for practical purposes non-magnetic?

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1hold a small pocket or field magnet to it and don't notice any attractive force

**Tags:** meteorite

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: MIght be fun to extend this to all non-orbiting (the sun) objects for which we can estimate atomic content via remote (spectral, etc) analysis.  
> **username_2**: What do you mean by *practical purposes* -  What practical purpose do you envisage a meteorite being put to?  
> **username_3**: @username_2 That's what the footnote attempts to clarify: "practical" in the sense of "practical for someone to test without specialist equipment", as opposed to "chemically provable to exhibit zero magnetism".  
> **username_4**: From the way I've heard collectors talk, I'd put it at a fraction of a percent, for ones that are actually found.  
> **username_0**: @username_4 see the "bias" section of my question. Were you able to ascertain from their talk *what methods and methodologies they used to search, collect, and identify* their meteorites? If they were looking for dark metallic chunks with a bit of surface melting, or using a metal detector or dragging magnets behind them, then we can quickly guess that their results are so low for that reason alone.  

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