Question

A meteor is a:
a) rapidly moving star
b) piece of matter which has entered the Earth’s atmosphere
c) part of a constellation
d) comet without a tail

Answer 1

Hint: Meteor is the visible part of a meteoroid that when seen in the night sky appears as a beam of light. People in layman's language call it a shooting star. When debris from space enters the Earth’s atmosphere it looks like a beam of light. On the above basis we can define a meteor.

Complete answer:
The meteoroids are basically the debris in our solar system, that ranges in size from a grain of sand to a larger boulder. When these debris are directed towards the Earth’s surface, they accelerate under the gravitational force of the Earth so fast that when they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, the frictional resistance from the Earth’s atmosphere heats them up. They are seen as a line of light or a beam of light. Hence from this we can conclude that a meteor is matter in space that enters the Earth’s atmosphere.

So, the correct answer is “Option B”.

Note:
When a meteoroid from space enters the Earth’s atmosphere various factors such as friction pressure and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause the debris to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a meteor what we call a shooting star. Meteorites consist of various elements such as silicate, iron etc. These meteorites are classified into various categories depending on their size, structure, chemical and isotopic composition and mineralogy.